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THE GOLDEN ERA OF TRENTON FALLS 



THE GOLDEN ERA OF TRENTON 
FALLS 

By Charlotte A. Pitcher 



"still in our ears the music of thy river 

Sings on, with melody that shall not cease; 
Thy memory in our hearts shall dwell forever 
Like a deep dream of peace." 




UTICA, N. Y. 
1915 






Copyright June 4, 1915 

BY 

Charlotte A. Pitcher 



Fierstine Printing House 

Utica, N. Y. 

1915 



JUN 12hjl5 
©CI.A40(-)*>88 



c 



DEDICATED 

TO 

MY MOTHER 



FOREWORD 

THE true historic spirit has its inception and in- 
spiration in the study of one's local environment. 
This is the logical stepping-stone to research in 
wider fields. From a patriotic and civic standpoint, 
surely, the study of history should begin at home. Fa- 
miliarity with one's own is of prime importance, and 
it is a matter for general congratulation that the his- 
torical and Hterary associations of so many sections 
of our country are to-day being recorded and preserved 
in such attractive form. Our noble hills, our lovely 
valleys, our streams of hving water, seem fairly to 
speak through the written page of some faithful and 
enthusiastic devotee of local history. 

In recaUing the pahny days of Trenton Falls, that 
"golden era" when their wondrous beauty attracted 
thousands of visitors from all parts of the United 
States and a constant procession of European trav- 
elers, what vivid pictures of the early days have been 
revealed! Perhaps we are most impressed with the 
marvelous changes wrought in modes of transporta- 
tion since the visitors to Trenton and Niagara accom- 
phshed the long journey from Albany to Buffalo by 
coach or packet boat. We cannot fail to observe that the 
leisurely, good old-fashioned ways of traveling, made 
it possible to enjoy and appreciate the landscape to a 
degree unknown in this twentieth century epoch of 



speed. Incidentally these chronicles of Trenton have 
acquired increased value and charm through the many 
glimpses given of life in the olden days. Withal, the 
changes brought about in our own home city by 
Time's magic fingers are forcibly called to our atten- 
tion. 

Surely, it has been worth while to revive and pre- 
serve the record of Trenton's unique history, and may 
the contents of this volume recall exquisite memory 
pictures in the hearts of those with whom Trenton 
Falls was a favorite resort. 

C. A. P. 



WRITTEN AT TRENTON FALLS 

Come down! from where the everlasting hills 
Open their rocky gates to let thee pass, 
Child of a thousand rapid running rills, 
And still lakes, where the skies their beauty glass. 

With thy dark eyes, white feet, and amber hair, 
Of heaven and earth thou fair and fearful daughter, 
Through thy wide halls, and down thy echoing stair. 
Rejoicing come — thou lovely "Leaping Water!" 

Shout! till the woods beneath their vaults of green 
Resound, and shake their pillars on thy way; 
Fling wide thy glittering fringe of silver sheen. 
And toss towards heaven thy clouds of dazzling spray. 

The sun looks down upon thee with delight, 
And weaves his prism around thee for a belt; 
And as the wind waves thy thin robes of light. 
The jewels of thy girdle glow and melt. 

Ah! where be they, who first with human eyes 
Beheld thy glory, thou triumphant flood! 
And through the forest, heard with glad surprise. 
Thy waters calling, like the voice of God! 

Far towards the setting sun, wandering they go. 
Poor remnant! left, from exile and from slaughter. 
But still their memory, mingling with thy flow. 
Lives in thy name — thou lovely, "Leaping Water." 

Frances Anne Kemble. 



THE GOLDEN ERA OF TRENTON FALLS 

10NG ago, before the city of Utica had won for 
itself the name and fame it now enjoys, there 
was a magnet in the vicinity which attracted 
strangers to its very doors. "Stopped off at Utica to 
visit Trenton Falls," may be found recorded over and 
over again by celebrated writers and tom*ists. It has 
been a labor of love to garner the praises of Trenton. 
"Voices of the Glen," this symposium, this treasure- 
trove of literary gems may well be called. 

The tide of travel, enroute to the Adirondacks or 
the Thousand Islands, now sweeps by this one-time 
much frequented resort. In the light of its palmiest 
days, Trenton Falls is only a memory; but it is most 
entertaining and delightful to recall its golden age 
through the writings of the many distinguished vis- 
itors who clambered through the glen and gave to the 
world their impressions of its matchless beauty. I 
have, therefore, woven a chaplet of glowing tributes 
to one of Nature's loveliest shrines, for the fame of 
Trenton was world-wide. Once every traveler of 
note sought out this attractive spot in the heart of the 
Empire State. Its varied charms brought all enthu- 
siastic tourists of the early days to Utica, the gateway 
of Trenton the Beautiful. 

One Robert Hamilton, writing in 1842 in "The La- 
dies' Companion," a periodical devoted "to every de- 



10 THE GOLDEN ERA 

partment of literature," says: "In the vicinity of 
Utica are the romantic falls of Trenton, which of late 
years have become the rage. This is not to be won- 
dered at, for more beautiful scenery cannot be found 
in our continent. The road to the spot is through a 
country of extreme fertility, where some of the finest 
farms of the Union are to be found, hewn out within 
a few years from the primeval forest. Countless acres 
are still standing in the pride of their strength and 
beauty, where the remnants of the once proud and 
mighty race of the Oneidas linger around the desolated 
homes of their fathers." 

John Sherman 

In the year 1805 the Reverend John Sherman of 
Connecticut, a graduate of Yale and grandson of Roger 
Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
took the long journey to central New York to visit 
Francis Adrian Van der Kemp and Col. Adam G. 
Mappa, distinguished Dutch patriots who had settled 
at Olden Rarneveld (Trenton village) , in the wilderness 
of Oneida County. An ardent lover of nature, the 
young clergyman explored the wild and beautiful re- 
gion about him, penetrating the unbroken forest until 
he reached the brink of Kauyahoora (the Indian 
descriptive name for the falls, meaning "leaping wa- 
ter.") Mr. Sherman was captivated with the wonders 
of the ravine of the West Canada Creek, Kanata or 
Amber river, and through his instrumentality the pub- 




THE NARROWS AT FOOT OF STAIRCASE. WITH GLIMPSE OF 
SHERMAN FALL 



OF TRENTON FALLS 11 

lie came to know of its remarkable series of cascades. 

In 1806 he was installed pastor of the Unitarian 
Church of Olden Barneveld, the first of this denomi- 
nation in the state of New York. At the close of his 
ministry, he established an Academy near the village 
which he successfully conducted for many years. 

Mr. Sherman's fascination for the beautiful falls in 
the neighborhood, led him to purchase sixty acres of 
land of the Holland Land Company in 1822, which 
included the Sherman or First Fall. He then erected 
a small building near the ravine for the temporary 
accommodation of visitors, naming it the "Rural Re- 
sort." The following year he brought his family to 
this sylvan retreat, which thereafter became their per- 
manent home. The first guests who slept in the house 
were Philip Hone and Dominick Lynch of New York, 
who came to Trenton in 1824 and wished to remain 
over night. When Mr. Hone inquired of Mr. Sher- 
man why he did not erect a building of sufficient size 
to entertain guests, he received this reply: "Did you 
ever know a clergyman who had any money .^^" Where- 
upon Mr. Hone offered his host the loan of five thou- 
sand dollars and the house was enlarged. Thus this 
popular resort was first established through the gen- 
erous act of that philanthropic, public-spirited citizen, 
who was mayor of New York in 1826, the great social 
leader of the metropolis in the first half of the last cen- 
tury, who entertained every foreigner of note, and 
every prominent American. 

In 1827 the Reverend John Sherman wrote a most 



i2 THE GOLDEN ERA 

complete and picturesque description of the falls, 
from which I take the following: 

"This superb scenery of Nature, to which thousands 
now annually resort — a scenery altogether unique in 
its character, as combining at once the beautiful, the 
romantic and the magnificent — all that variety of 
rocky chasms, cataracts, cascades, rapids, elsewhere 
separately exhibited in different regions — was, until 
within five years, not accessible without extreme peril 
and toil, and therefore not generally known. It is in 
latitude 43° 23 ; fourteen miles north of the flourishing 
city of Utica, the great thoroughfare of this region, 
situated on a gentle ascent from the bank of the 
Mohawk, amidst a charming and most fertile country. 
Here every facihty can be had for a ride to Trenton 
Falls, where a house of entertainment is erected near 
the bank of the West Canada Creek, for the accom- 
modation of visitors, and where they can tarry any 
length of time which may suit their convenience. 

"This creek is the main branch of the Mohawk 
River, as the Missouri is of the Mississippi, having lost 
its proper name because not so early explored. It in- 
terlocks on the summit level with the Black River, the 
distance being only three-fourths of a mile where the 
waters of the one may be easily turned into the other. 
It has chosen its course along the highlands, making 
its way on the backbone of the country, and empties 
into the Mohawk at Herkimer. 

"The 'Rural Resort,' or house of entertainment at 
the Falls, which is at the end of the road and inclosed 



OF TRENTON FALLS 13 

on three sides by the native forest, opens suddenly to 
view upon elevated ground, at the distance of a mile 
in a direct line of the road. From the dooryard you 
step at once into the forest, and walking only twenty 
rods, strike the bank at the place of descent. This is 
about one hundred feet of nearly perpendicular rock 
made easy and safe by five pair of stairs with railings. 
You land on a broad pavement level with the water's 
edge, a furious rapid being in front, that has cut down 
the rock still deeper and which, at one place in times 
of drought, does not exceed ten feet in width; but in 
spring and fall floods, or after heavy rain, becomes 
a tremendously foaming torrent, rising from fifteen to 
twenty feet and sweeping the lowest flight of stairs. 
Being now on the pavement, the river at your feet, per- 
pendicular walls of solid rock on each side, and the 
narrow zone of ethereal sky far overhead, your feelings 
are at once excited. You have passed to a subterra- 
nean world. The first impression is astonishment at 
the change. But recovering instantly, your attention 
is forthwith attracted to the magnificence, the grandeur, 
the beauty and sublimity of the scene. You stand 
and pause. You behold the operations of incalcula- 
ble ages. You are thrown back to antediluvian times. 
The adamantine rock has yielded to the flowing water 
which has formed the wonderful chasm. You tread 
on petrifactions, or fossil organic remains, imbedded 
in the four-hundredth stratum, which preserve the 
form, and occupy the place, of beings once animated 
like yourselves, each stratum having been the deposit 



iU THE GOLDEN ERA 

of a supervening flood that happened successively, 
Eternity alone knows when. 

''At this station is a view of the outlet of the chasm, 
forty-five rods below, and also of what is styled the 
first fall, thirty-seven rods up the stream. The par- 
apet of this fall, visible from the foot of the stairs is, in 
dry time, a naked perpendicular rock thirty-three feet 
high, apparently extending quite across the chasm, 
the water retiring to the left and being hid from the 
eye by intervening prominences. But in freshets, or 
after heavy rains, it pours over from the one side of 
the chasm to the other in a proud amber sheet. A 
pathway to this has been blasted at a considerable ex- 
pense, under an overhanging rock and around an ex- 
tensive projection, directly beneath which rages and 
roars a most violent rapid. Here some, unaccustomed 
to such bold scenery, have been intimidated, and a 
few have turned back. But the passage is level, with 
a rocky wall to lean against, and rendered perfectly 
safe at the turn of the projection by chains well riveted 
in the side. 

"In the midway of this projection five tons were 
thrown off by a fortunate blast, affording a perfectly 
level and broad space, where fifteen or twenty may 
stand together and take a commanding view of the 
whole scenery. A little to the left the rapid com- 
mences its wild career. Directly underneath it rages, 
foams and roars, driving with resistless fury, and forc- 
ing a tortuous passage into the expanded stream on 
the right. In front is a projection from the other side, 



OF TliENTON FALLS '5 

curved to a concavity of a semi-circle by the impetu- 
ous waters. The top of this opponent projection has 
been swept away and is entirely flat, exh.bitmg, from 
its surface downwards, the separate strata as regular, 
as distinct, and as horizontal as the mason-work m 
the locks of the grand canal. Here, in old time, was 
a lofty fall, now reduced to the rapid just described. 

"Passing hence on a level of twenty feet above the 
stream, we witness the amazing power of the waters 
in the spring and autumnal freshets. Massive slabs 
of rock lie piled in the middle of the river, thrown over 
the falls above, weighing from ten to twenty tons. 
These are occasionally swept on through the rapids, 
and floated over the five-foot falls at the outlet of the 
chasm. Such is their momentum that every bound 
upon the bottom causes a vibration at the Hural tie- 
sort ' and their stifled thunder, amid the agitated roar 
of tiie waters, is sometimes very distinctly heard. 

"A few rods above this pile of rocks we pass to the 
left and suddenly come in full view of the descending 
cataract, which is known as the Sherman Fall. It has 
formed an immense excavation, having thrown out 
thousands of tons from the parapet rock visible from 
the stairs, and is annually forcing off slabs from the 
west corner, against which it incessantly pours a sec- 
tion of its powerful sheet. 

"It is difficult to give a description of the scenery 
here. A mass of naked rock extending up one hundred 
and fifty feet to the summit of the bank, juts forward 
with threatening aspect. The visitor ascends by nat- 



16 THE GOLDEN ERA 

ural steps to the throat of its yawning and, hke a son 
of Hercules, Hterally shoulders the mountain above. 
Here he stands free from the spray in a direct line of 
the parapet wall, surveying at leisure the evergreens 
which cover in contrast the opponent bank with a rich 
foliage of the deepest verdure, and immediately at his 
feet the operation of the cataract rushing down into 
the spacious excavation it has formed. Back of this 
thick amber sheet, the reaction of the water has worn 
away the rock to an exact circular curve, eight or ten 
feet in diameter, which exhibits a furiously boiling 
cauldron of the very whitest foam. In the bosom of 
the excavation a Fairy makes her appearance at a cer- 
tain hour of sunshine, and dances through the mist, 
modestly retiring as the visitor changes his position, 
and blushing all colors when she finds him gazing at 
her irised beauties. A few rods beyond this spot a 
thin shelf puts out from the mountain, under which it 
never rains, nor snows, nor shines. In front the river 
hastens smoothly and rapidly to the fall below. 

"Leaving this rocky shelf we pass a furious winding 
rapid which, encroaching on the path, drives the vis- 
itor close under a low projecting cliff that compels him 
to stoop, and seems to demand homage as a prere- 
quisite of admission to the splendid scenery just beyond. 
Here all ages and sexes bow, who would pass from the 
portico into the grand temple of Nature's magnificence, 
to witness the display of her sublimer glories. 

"This service performed, there opens upon us, when 
the water is low, an expansion of flat rock, where we 



OF TRENTON FALLS 17 

are suddenly transported with a full view of the High 
Falls. The eye, elevated at a considerable angle, be- 
holds a perpendicular rock one hundred feet high, ex- 
tending across the opening in a diagonal line from the 
mountainous walls on each side rising seventy or eighty 
feet still higher. Over this the whole river descends, 
first perpendicularly about forty feet, the main body 
rushing to the left. On the right it pours down in a 
beautiful white sheet. For a short distance in the 
middle the rock is left entirely naked, exhibiting a per- 
pendicular and bold breastwork, as though reared by 
art to divide the beautiful white sheet on the one side 
from the overwhelming fury of the waters on the other. 
They unite on a flat below; then, with a tumultuous 
foam, veer suddenly down an inchnation of rocky 
steps, whence the whole river is precipitated into a 
wide, deep and dark basin forty feet underneath — 
mountainous walls rising on each side of the stream 
nearly two hundred feet — tall hemlocks and bending 
cedars extending their branches on the verge above — 
small shrubbery variegating here and there their stu- 
pendous and naked sides. On the right of the basin 
a charming verdure entirely overspreads a smoothly 
rounding and majestic prominence, which reaches half 
way up the towering summit, and over the whole, the 
sky mingles with retiring evergreens, until verging in 
perspective to the distant angle of incidence, they are 
lost in the ethereal expanse beyond. 

"Such are the High Falls which the pen may faintly 
describe, and of which the pencil may portray the out- 



i8 THE GOLDEN ERA 

line, but Nature reserves to herself the prerogative of 
giving the rapturous impression. 

"The view of these falls varies exceedingly, accord- 
ing to the plentitude or paucity of the waters. In the 
autumnal floods, and particularly the spring freshets, 
arising from the sudden liquefaction of snow in the 
northern country, the river is swelled a hundred-fold, 
and comes rushing in a vast body of tumultuous foam 
from the summit rock into the broad basin at the bot- 
tom. * * * * 

"Passing up at the side we mount a grand level on 
the top, where in dry times the stream retires to the 
right, and opens a wide pavement for a large party to 
walk abreast. Here a flight of stairs leads up to a house 
of refreshment, styled the 'Rural Retreat,' twenty 
feet above the summit of the High Falls and in a direct 
line with them. * * * * Here the philosopher 
and divine may make their sage remarks and draw 
their grave conclusions; the weary rest from their la- 
bors, and the hungry and dry recruit their exhausted 
spirits, the sociable of all grades and nations converse 
freely and unknown together; the facetious display 
the coruscations of their wit, and the cheerful in dis- 
position enjoy the innocent glee of hilarity. Greece, 
embellished by immortal bards, cannot boast a spot 
so highly romantic. 

"The opening of the chasm now becomes consider- 
ably enlarged, and a new style of scenery commences. 
Forty rods beyond this is what is usually denominated 
the 'Mill-Dam' Fall, fourteen feet high, stretching its 



irmn\ 




OF TRENTON FALLS 19 

broad sheet of water from the one side to the other of 
the expanded chasm. This is also visible through the 
branches of evergreens at the 'Rural Retreat.' As- 
cending this fall we are introduced to another still 
more expanded and extended platform of level 
rock lined on each side with cedars, which extend 
down to the walking level, whose branches all crowd 
forward under their bending trunks, and whose backs 
are as naked as the towering rocky walls, concealed in 
contrast a rod or two behind them. 

"This place may be justly denominated the ' Alham- 
bra of Nature.' At the extremity of it is one of the 
most interesting scenes imaginable; a scene that no 
pen can describe to one who is not on the spot, and 
where every landscape painter always drops his pencil. 
It is far too much for art to imitate, or for eloquence to 
represent. It is the prerogative of Nature alone to do 
this; she has done it once, and stands without a rival 
competitor. Here I ought to drop my pen. A naked 
rock, sixty feet high, reaches gradually forward from 
the mid-distance its shelving top, from which descends 
a perpetual rill that forms a natural shower-bath. On 
the very verge of its overhanging summit stands a tall 
cedar, whose fingered apex towers aloft, pointing up 
to the skies, and whose thick branches elongating 
gradually towards the root, reach far down the pro- 
jecting cliff with an impenetrable shade of deepest 
verdure. On the left is a most wild cascade, where 
the water rushes over the variously posited strata in 
all directions, combining the gentle fall and the out- 



W THE GOLDEN ERA 

rageous cataract, which we term the 'Cascade of the 
Alhambra.' 

"Here the expansive opening suddenly contracts 
and leaves a narrow aperture, through which the eye 
beholds mountainous walls retiring in various curva- 
tures and projections. Directly opposite the specta- 
tor is a large perpendicular rock on the other side of 
the stream, at whose base the raging waters become 
still. Annexed to this is a lofty tower, rising in a vast 
column at its side, commanding with imposing majesty 
the scenery around. At your feet is a dark basin of 
water forty feet deep, resting from its labors in the 
wild cascade above, and relieved by collections of 
whitest foam, which frequently assemble within an 
eddy at the upper end, and dance to each other in fan- 
tastic forms and, capped like caliphs, pursue the 
course of all hands round in an eternal circle. On the 
right the whole river descends gently down a charming 
plain, until lost amidst evergreens as it passes over the 
falls below. 

"Ascending this cascade whose thwarting, raging, 
foaming, dashing waters would seem to forbid a pass- 
age at its side, you are introduced to a grand amphi- 
theatre unseen before, where is a towering rock of 
threatening majesty with a singular supporting col- 
umn, from whose impending chfF have fallen enormous 
slabs of strata, sixteen or eighteen inches thick. Be- 
tween this deposited pile and the base it would seem 
temerity to pass, lest you should be instantly crushed. 
This danger may be avoided by keeping near the wa- 



OF TRENTON FALLS 21 

ter's edge. Just beyond the column is exhibited a 
natural fireplace. Here, also, a rill descends, a few 
feet below the summit shelf. A cedar extends down 
within reach its elongated branches from the root, by 
which a sailor could as easily ascend the bank as up 
the shrouds of his ship ; and under this shelving summit 
a solemnizing echo is generally heard, as of the dread- 
ful roar of overwhelming floods rushing from on high. 
It is caused by the cascade below. * * * * ppom 
this, passing a high projection, we come to a place 
where this wonderful chasm is fully demonstrated to 
be the efi'ect of the operation of the stream. We see 
the process actually going on. The curvatures here, 
through which the water rushes for a considerable dis- 
tance, are as regular as if drawn by the compass. One 
of these is styled the 'Rocky Heart,' from its perfect 
resemblance to that form on cards, which is so denom- 
inated. In a flat rock at the side, there is nearly in 
contact a circular hole, named by some the 'Potash 
Kettle,' and by others 'Jacob's WeU.' * * * * 
His must be ' a forlorn hope ' who can view the scenery 
of nature in this wonderful chasm without correspond- 
ing emotions of reverential piety. It is a scene where 
the God of Nature himself preaches the most eloquent 
and impressive lectures to every visitor; but more es- 
pecially to the philosopher, whose mind is called to 
ascend from the wonderful operations of nature, to 
nature's more wonderful and incomprehensible cause; 
for what is Nature, but the systematic course of divine 
operation? 



22 THE GOLDEN ERA 

"At the 'Rocky Heart' it is customary to stop, see- 
ing the passage beyond is attended with some danger, 
and the scenery is, to a considerable degree, charac- 
teristic of what follows. 

"On your return to the 'Rural Resort' you ascend 
the bank immediately behind the 'Rural Retreat,' 
where many picturesque glimpses of the river may be 
had, one particularly at Carmichael's Point. Thence, 
carefully observing to keep the left hand footpath on 
the summit near the creek, you pass through the cool 
shade of the forest, until you arrive with a good appe- 
tite at the place where you landed from your carriage." 

Mr. Sherman adds to his description of the scenery 
of the glen many interesting scientific observations, 
which remind us that the highly fossiliferous strata of 
the Trenton limestone has always made the gorge of 
the West Canada Creek exceedingly attractive to stu- 
dents of geology. The cabinets of rare fossils and 
mineralogical specimens at the hotel eu-e vividly re- 
called by every visitor to Trenton Falls in the olden 
days. 

The ideal and most worthy first resident at Trenton 
Falls passed away in 1828. He was laid to rest on the 
hilltop crowned with pines in the rear of his simple 
hostelry and within sound of the perpetual music of 
Kauyahoora. 

"Here is peace and loveliness ever mingled; 
Organ music of winds and birds and branches, 
And a brooding presence which makes each moment 
A benediction." 




THE IMPERIAL CLIFF ABOVE SHERMAN FALL 



OF TRENTON FALLS 23 

Mr. Michael Moore of New York, son-in-law of Mr. 
Sherman, succeeded the founder in the proprietorship 
of the popular inn at Trenton. He made extensive 
additions to the original structure and, with the open- 
ing of the Plank Road from Utica in 1851, the beau- 
tiful ravine of the West Canada Creek became more 
accessible to the pubUc. Under the Moore regime 
the same atmosphere of culture and refinement ob- 
tained at Trenton which had characterized the resort 
from its estabhshment. Old-time patrons of Moore's 
Hotel recall this feature as its unique and indescribable 
charm. Poets, painters, scientists, nature-lovers, all 
came to Trenton. It was the favorite haunt of scholars 
and hterary celebrities. Foreigners of note bound 
for Niagara did not fail to step aside at Utica to wit- 
ness this less grand but more lovely exhibition of fall- 
ing water. It was the rare combination of exquisite 
natural accessories which rendered the place unique 
and enraptured every visitor. Flowers, ferns, mosses, 
majestic trees adorned the great gray chffs of the en- 
chanted glen. One who considered the Trenton Gorge 
unrivaled for picturesque beauty wrote of the view of 
the High Falls: "It is a picture in water colors, 
framed in rock, fringed with greenness, spangled with 
wild flowers, and canopied by the blue vault of heav- 
en." Trenton Falls early occupied a prominent posi- 
tion in the hst of America's famous resorts. "The 
Fashionable or Northern Tour," a guide book pub- 
fished at Saratoga Springs and New York City in 1830 
contains an extended account of "the renowned Tren- 
ton FaUs" fourteen miles north of Utica. 



24 THE GOLDEN ERA 

Before taking up the fascinating descriptions of the 
place which I have found in the writings of so many 
past worthies, I must speak of the wonderful old-time 
garden which once bedecked the charming vista in 
front of Moore's Hotel, that perfect scene of rural 
beauty stretching away to glorious hills and "fields of 
living green." Who that has seen it will forget the 
brilliant parterre of roses and peonies which bordered 
the long graveled walk leading down to "the rocks" 
where a fine view could be obtained of the stream after 
its tumultuous passage over the ledges? Calmly now 
it pursued its winding way to join the Mohawk, pass- 
ing through some of the most beautiful scenery of the 
state of New York. But we cannot linger in the lovely 
valley of the West Canada; it is time to return to the 
inn. 

Nathaniel P. Willis 

Let us enter the hospitable doorway and, after 
studying the notable paintings of the falls which 
grace the pleasant parlors, hsten to what N. P. Willis 
says about the beauties of Trenton. He sought out 
this romantic spot as early as 1828 and paid repeated 
visits to the place. In 1851 he edited a dehghtful fittle 
book at the request of Mr. Moore, pubhshed by George 
P. Putnam, entitled "Trenton Falls, Picturesque and 
Descriptive," from which I quote these words: "The 
most enjoy ably beautiful spot among the resorts of 
romantic scenery in our country is Trenton Falls, the 



OF TRENTON FALLS 25 

place above all others where it is a luxury to stay — 
which one oftenest revisits — which one most com- 
mends strangers to be sure to visit. In the long cor- 
ridor of travel between New York and Niagara, this 
place is a sort of alcove aside — a side-scene out of ear- 
shot of the crowd. ***** 

"Most people talk of the subhmity of Trenton, but 
I have haunted it by the week together for its mere 
loveliness. The river in the heart of that fearful 
chasm, is the most varied and beautiful assemblage of 
the thousand forms and shapes of running water that 
I know of in the world. The soil and the deep-striking 
roots of the forest terminate far above you, looking 
like a black rim on the enclosing precipices; the bed of 
the river and its sky-sustaining walls are of sohd rock 
and, with the tremendous descent of the stream — 
forming for miles one continuous succession of falls 
and rapids^the channel is worn into curves and cav- 
ities which throw the clear waters into forms of incon- 
ceivable briUiancy and variety. It is a sort of half 
twilight below, with here and there a long beam of 
sunshine reaching down to kiss the Up of an eddy, or 
form a rainbow over a fall, and the reverberating and 
changing echoes, 

' Like a ring of bells whose sound the wind still alters, ' 

maintain a constant and most soothing music, vary- 
ing at every step with the varying phase of the cur- 
rent. ***** The pecuHarity of Trenton 
Falls, I fancy, consists a good deal in the space in which 



26 THE GOLDEN ERA 

you are compelled to see them. You walk a few steps 
from the hotel through the wood, and come to a de- 
scending staircase of a hundred steps, the different 
bends of which £U"e so overgrown with wild shrubbery, 
that you cannot see the ravine until you are fairly 
down upon its rocky floor. Your path hence up to 
the first fall is along a ledge cut out of the base of the 
cliff that overhangs the torrent, and when you get to 
the foot of the descending sheet, you find yourself in 
very close quarters with a cataract — rocky walls all 
round you — and the appreciation of power and mag- 
nitude somewhat heightened by the confinement of 
the place. 

"The usual walk (through this deep cave open at 
the top) is about half a mile in length, and its almost 
subterranean river, in that distance, plunges over four 
precipices in exceedingly beautiful cascades. On the 
successive rocky terraces between the falls, the torrent 
takes every variety of rapids and whirlpools and, per- 
haps, in all the scenery of the world there is no river 
which, in the same space, presents so many of the va- 
rious shapes and beauties of running and falling water. 
The Indian name of the stream (the Kanata, which 
means the Amber River) expresses one of its peculiar- 
ities and, probably from the depth of shade cast by the 
dark and overhanging walls 'twixt which it flows, the 
water is everywhere of a peculiarly rich lustre and color, 
and in the edges of one or two of the cascades, as yel- 
low as gold. Artists, in drawing this river, fail in giv- 
ing the impression of deep-down-itude which is pro- 




A CHARMING VISTA OF THE HILLS FROM THE CLIFF WALK 



OF TRENTON FALLS 27 

duced by the close approach of the two lofty walls of 
rock, capped by the over-leaning woods, and with the 
sky apparently resting, hke a ceiHng, upon the leafy 
architraves. * * * * Subterranean as this foam- 
ing river looks by day, it looks like a river in cloud-land 
by night. The side of the ravine which is in shadow, 
is one undistinguishable mass of black with its wavy 
upper edge in strong rehef against the sky and, as the 
foaming stream catches the light from the opposite 
and moonlit side, it is outhned distinctly on its bed of 
darkness, and seems winding its way between hills of 
clouds, half black, half luminous. Below, where all 
is deep shadow except the river, you might fancy it a 
silver mine laid open to your view amid subterranean 
darkness by the wand of an enchanter. * * * * 
"Beu'on de Trobriand* arrived here to-day, August 
10, 1848. I had been reading a French novel of which 
he is the author, and I am amused to see how he carries 
out, in his impulsive and enthusiastic way of enjoying 
scenery, the impression you get of his character from 
his buoyant and brilliant style of writing. After one 
look at the falls he came back and made a foray upon 
the larder, got a tin kettle in which he packed the sim- 
ple provender he might want, and went off with his 
portfoho to sketch and ramble out the day. He re- 
turned at night with his slight and elegant features 
burned by the sun, wet to the knees with wading the 
rapids, and rejoined the gay but more leisurely and 

*Baron de Trobriand, a native of France, emigrated to the United States in 
1841, enlisted in 1861 in the cause of the Union, and rendered gallant service 
throughout the entire Civil War. 



28 THE GOLDEN ERA 

luxurious party with which he travels. Looking down 
from one of the cliffs yesterday afternoon, I saw him 
hard at work ankle deep in water bringing pieces of 
rock and building a causeway across the shallows of 
the stream, to induce the ladies to come to the edge of 
the falls, otherwise inaccessible. He has made one or 
two charming sketches of the ravine, being an admira- 
ble artist." 

The absence of display and garishness at the hotel 
appealed strongly to Mr. Willis, particularly the quiet, 
unobtrusive exterior. "Oh, those chalky universes in 
rural places," he exclaims, "what miles around of 
green trees and tender grass do they blaze out of all 
recognition with their unescapable white-paint aggra- 
vations of sunshine, and their stretch of unmitigated 
collonade! You may as well look at a star with a 
blazing candle in your eye, as enjoy a landscape in 
which one of these mountains of illuminated clapboard 
sits a-glare. Mr. Moore, the landlord at Trenton, is 
proposing to build a larger house for the accommoda- 
tion of the pubhc, but this sermon upon our Mont 
Blanc Hotels, with their Dover Cliff porticoes is not 
aimed at him. On subjects of taste he requires no 
counsel. The engravings a man hangs up in his parlors 
are a sufficient key to the degree of his refinement; 
and those which are visible through the soft demi jour 
of the apartments in this shaded retreat, might all be- 
long to a connoisseur in art, and a fair example of the 
proprietor's perception of the beautiful. In more than 
one way he is the right kind of man for the Keeper of 



OF TRENTON FALLS 29 

this loveliest of Nature's bailiwicks of scenery. On 
the night of our arrival I was lying awake somewhere 
towards midnight, and watching from my window 
the sifting of moonhght through the woods with the 
stirring of the night air, when the low undertone of the 
falls was suddenly varied with a strain of exquisite 
music. It seemed scarcely a tune, but, with the rich- 
est fullness of volume, one lingering and dreamy note 
melted into another, as if it were the voluntary of a 
player who unconsciously touched the keys as an ac- 
companiment to his melancholy. What with the place 
and time, and my ignorance that there was an instru- 
ment of this character in the house, I was a good deal 
surprised; but before making up my mind as to what it 
could be, I was 'helped over the stile' into dreamland, 
and made no inquiry till the next morning at break- 
fast. The player was our landlord, Mr. Moore, who 
thus, when his guests are gone to bed, steals an hour of 
leisure from the night and, upon a fine organ which 
stands in one of the inner parlors of his house, plays 
with admirable taste and execution. ***** 
"Mr. Moore came here twenty years ago to enjoy the 
scenery of which he had heard so much; and getting a 
severe fall in chmbing the rocks, was for some time 
confined to his bed at the hotel, then kept by Mr. Sher- 
man. The kind care with which he was treated re- 
sulted in an attachment for one of the daughters of the 
family, his present wife; he came back, wedded his 
fair nurse and Trenton for the remander of his Hfe, 



30 THE GOLDEN ERA 

and is now the owner and host of the very lovehest 
scenery-haunt in all our picturesque country." 

Willis speaks of the select character of the guests 
whom he finds at the hotel, and he tells of lovely walks 
through the forest along the edge of the cliff, and of 
delicious hours spent in watching the procession of 
visitors climbing through the ravine — every new group 
changing and embellishing "the glorious combination 
of rock, foliage and water." All that was wanting 
to make the scene perfect, Willis declared, was a dash 
of color in woman's attire. All were clad in the colors 
of the rocks and wore slate-colored riding dresses and 
bonnets to match up the dusty highways. When a 
lady finally appeared accompanied by a gentleman 
carrying a crimson shawl, it so heightened the scene 
that he at once made a vow to appeal to the ladies of 
the land to carry, at least, a scarf of red, white or blue 
over the arm when mingling with the landscapes of 
our romantic resorts, thus supplying all that was want- 
ing at Trenton and Niagara. 

Margaret Fuller 

Trenton by moonlight! The poet Willis says he 
walked the ravine till the "small hours" to witness 
the marvelous transformation, but he would not at- 
tempt to reproduce such "sublimities" on paper. 

Margaret Fuller did, for she wrote verses upon Tren- 
ton Falls as they appeared early in the morning, in 
the afternoon, and by moonlight. June 2, 1835, when 



OF TRENTON FALLS 31 

a guest of the Harvard Professor of Astronomy and 
family at Cambridge, she writes her father: "I have 
something to tell you which I hope, oh, I hope will 
give you as much pleasure as it does me. Mr. and 
Mrs. Farrar propose taking me, with several other 
dehghtful persons, to Trenton Falls this summer. The 
plan is to set out about the 20th of July, go to New 
York, then up the North River to West Point— pass a 
day there, then on to Trenton, and devote a week to 
that beautiful scenery. Oh, I cannot describe the 
positive ecstacy with which I think of this journey." 
Thomas Wentworth Higginson states, in his biography 
of Margaret Fuller (Marchioness Ossoh) that she did 
enjoy the anticipated treat, a journey rare in her day, 
when ''Trenton Falls was accounted one of the glories 
of America — the simple days when the wonders of 
Colorado and the Yosemite were unknown." 



32 THE GOLDEN ERA 

TRENTON FALLS EARLY IN THE MORNING 

Would you the genius of the place enjoy, 
In all the charm contrast and color give? 
Your eye and taste you now may best employ, 
For this the hour when minor beauties live; 
Scan ye the details as the sun rides high, 
For with the morn these sparkling glories fly. 

TRENTON FALLS IN THE AFTERNOON 

* * * * * 

A calmer grace o'er these still hours presides; 
Now is the time to see the might of form; 
The heavy masses of the buttressed sides, 
The stately steps o'er which the waters storm. 

TRENTON FALLS BY MOONLIGHT 

***** 

With what holiness did night invest 

The eager impulse of impetuous life. 

And hymn-like meanings clothed the waters' strife 1 

With what a solemn peace the moon did rest 

Upon the white crest of the waterfall; 

The haughty guardian banks, by the deep shade. 

In almost double height are now displayed. 

Depth, height, speak things which awe, but not appall. 

From elemental powers this voice has come, 

And God's love answers from the azure dome. 

Margaret Fuller 



OF TRENTON FALLS 33 



Catherine Maria Sedgwick 

Catherine Maria Sedgwick, the gifted author of 
"The New England Tale," "Redwood," "Hope Leslie," 
"The Linwoods," the co-temporary of Irving and 
Cooper in the field of early American literature, was a 
Trenton enthusiast. The beautiful falls of Kauya- 
hoora furnished a picturesque setting for a part of her 
story entitled "Clarence," first pubUshed in 1830, 
one of the most romantic of her numerous novels. That 
Miss Sedgwick was once widely read and popular is 
proven by Chief Justice Marshall, who sent her this 
message through their mutual friend. Judge Story: 
"Tell Miss Sedgwick I have read with great pleasure 
everything she has written and wish she would write 
more." Indeed, Miss Sedgwick's name was associated 
with that of Cooper's to the extent that, in a French 
translation of "Redwood," which appeared in Paris 
in 1824, he is given on the title page as the author. 

The scene of "Clarence" is laid mainly in New York 
City, but the family, whose name is given the story, 
spend much time at their charming villa near one of 
the most beautiful of the inland lakes of western New 
York, and from this point they "jaunt" to Trenton. 
In due time they arrive at the scene of enchantment 
where the author says "nature reigns a queen of beau- 
ty, every heart does her homage — the very trees as 
they bend from their walled banks and almost embower 



3U THE GOLDEN ERA 

the sportive stream, seem in act of reverence." The 
heroine, Gertrude Clarence, ventures out alone the 
night of her arrival to see the falls by moonlight. She 
has no fear, for she has been there before, and knows 
the forest paths by heart. Not a breath of air is 
stirring. All nature seems hushed to listen to the 
music of the dashing waters. She descends the steps, 
follows the margin of the stream, passes the most diffi- 
cult places in safety and reaches the summit of the 
first fall where she encounters a stranger, Gerald Ros- 
coe, the hero of the tale. Fate brings this charming 
pair together at Trenton, and by moonlight! 

In the progress of the story Miss Sedgwick describes 
the falls in this delightful and realistic manner : "Ger- 
trude Clarence ascended to the summit of the first fall 
by the natural and rough stairway and pursuing her 
walk, canopied by the over-arching rocks, and creep- 
ing along the shelving shore, she attained the side of the 
foaming, deep abyss, into which the stream rushes at 
two bold leaps. She stood for some moments gazing 
on the torrent, almost deafened by its roar, when she 
was startled by a footstep close to her. She turned 
and saw the stranger who seemed destined to cross her 
path at every turn. He bowed respectfully and said: 
'This is fine scenery; I have been scrambling along 
the bank for two miles above this place, and never 
have I seen such various and startHng beauty. The 
river has so many abrupt turns and graceful sweeps, 
at every turn there is a new picture, as if you had 
turned another leaf in the book of Nature. I have 




A FASHIONABLE GROUP AT TRENTON FALLS 



OF TRENTON FALLS 35 

seen three falls above this place of less magnitude, 
and I have been told they occur at intervals for several 
miles. But the falls are only one feature. The sides 
of the stream are everywhere beautiful. In some 
places richly wooded; in others the rocks are perpen- 
dicular, bare and stern — now sending over their beet- 
ling summits a little cascade that falls at your feet in 
diamond drops — now receding and sloping, and mantled 
with moss and fern, or sending out from their clefts 
sturdy trees, sylvan sentinels on Nature's embattle- 
ments. In one place the rocks recede and are con- 
cave and the river appears like an imprisoned lake, or 
a magician's well. There, I confess, I listened for an 
'open sesame' and thought it possible I might see an 
enchanted damsel walk forth with her golden pitcher.' " 
I am extremely grateful to the Berkshire novehst for 
this unique tribute, and for much more which she said 
in praise of Trenton. She must have dearly loved the 
spot, for she visited it many times, once with her 
friend, Frances Anne Kemble. 

Of the fashion, prevalent in her day, of comparing 
Trenton with Niagara, many preferring the former, 
Miss Sedgwick says: "Trenton is a younger favorite 
and has the advantage of youth and novelty over the 
sublime torrent. She has not been heard of by every- 
body in the four quarters of the globe; nor been seen 
and talked of by half the world. We feel something 
of the pride of discoverers in vaunting her beauty. 
She has, too, her caprices and changes, and does not 
show the same face to all. This is one of her pecuHar 



36 THE GOLDEN ERA 

charms. There is such a pleasure in saying, 'Oh, 
what a pity you did not see the falls as we did; we but 
just escaped with our lives, immense rains had fallen, 
and the passes were all but impassable.' There are 
no such lucky chances of superiority at Niagara. Like 
a monarch Niagara always appears in the same state 
and magnificence. It pays no visible tribute to the 
elements; it is neither materially abated nor augmented 
by them. Niagara is like the ocean, alone and incom- 
parable in its grandeur." 

How perfectly Hawthorne interprets Miss Sedg- 
wick's meaning: "Oh, that I had never heard of Ni- 
agara till I beheld it! Blessed were the wanderers of 
old who heard its deep roar sounding through the 
woods, as the summons of an unknown wonder, and 
approached its awful brink in all the freshness of na- 
tive feeling." 

Naturally the far-famed Mohawk Valley receives 
its share of panegyric in this volume, for it was the 
great highway traversed by all Trenton pilgrims, and 
Utica "the gateway" calls forth much interesting and 
entertaining comment. Miss Sedgwick says in "Clar- 
ence": "We deplored the necessity of a few hours 
delay at one of the noisiest inns of that noisiest of all 
growing, forwarding towns, thronged, busy Utica. The 
front windows looked into the most public, and par 
excellence, the busiest street of the town, the avenue 
to the great northern turnpike. Stage coaches were 
waiting, arriving, departing, driving to and fro, as if 
all the world were a stage coach and all the men and 



OF TRENTON FALLS 37 

women merely travellers. The window at the side of 
the room afforded a view of the canal, and of the gen- 
eral debouching place of its packet boats. There were 
servants and porters hustling baggage off and on the 
packet boats and stage coach proprietors persecuting 
the jaded passengers with rival claims to patronage. 
A fresh bustle broke out, Babel was nothing to it — 
'Hurrah for the western passengers!' 'Gentlemen 
and ladies for Sackett's Harbor, all ready!' 'Hurrah 
for Trenton!' 'Pioneer Line, ready!' 'Gentlemen 
and ladies for the Telegraph Line!' The exciting polit- 
ical campaign of the day is denoted by the announce- 
ments that 'The bell is ringing for the Adams' boat 
going out!' 'The horn is blowing for the Jackson 
boat coming in!'" 

Miss Sedgwick's picture of early Utica rivals Mr. 
Archibald Dunlap Moore's, (brother of the proprietor 
at Trenton) who says of the place in his "Journal of 
Travels through New York State" in 1822: "Here is 
the confusion of Babel— stores and houses building, 
horns blowing, canal boats with passengers arriving, 
passing through and setting out. Stages, waggons, 
men, women and children — everything denotes the 
rapid growth of this would-be capital of the state. In- 
deed, many of the people of Utica are perfectly wild 
over the future size, influence and wealth of their 
thriving village. They are entirely too sanguine, 
although it must become one of the largest inland 
towns in the United States, its situation giving it many 
advantages from a commercial point of view. * * * 



38 THE GOLDEN ERA 

Wandered out after dark, no lamps, stumbled about 
and concluded to go back to my lodgings at the Canal 
House — engaged passage next day for Little Falls." 

Mrs. Frances Trollope 

Mrs. Frances Trollope was about completing her 
sojourn of over three years in America, when she set 
out from New York, May 30, 1831, for Niagara. She 
had been reading "Clarence" and possibly it was Miss 
Sedgwick's description of Trenton in this romance 
which led her to visit the spot. "At two in the after- 
noon," her account reads, "we started from Utica in 
a very pleasant carriage for Trenton Falls, a delightful 
drive of fourteen miles. These falls have become 
within a few years only second in fame to Niagara. 
The West Canada Creek has found its way through 
three miles of rock, which at many points is one hun- 
dred and fifty feet high. A forest of enormous cedars 
is on their summit ; and many of that beautiful species 
of white cedar which droops its branches like the weep- 
ing-willow, grow in the clefts of the rock, and in some 
places almost dip their dark foliage in the torrent. 
Near the hotel a flight of very alarming steps leads 
down to the bed of the stream, and on reaching it 
you find yourself enclosed in a deep abyss of solid 
rock, with no visible opening but that above your 
head. The torrent dashes by with inconceivable 
rapidity; its color is black as night, and the dark 
ledge of rocks on which you stand is so treacherously 



OF TRENTON FALLS 39 

level with it, that nothing warns you of danger. With- 
in the last three years, two young people, though sur- 
rounded by their friends, have stepped an inch too far 
and disappeared from among theni as if by magic, 
never to revisit earth again. This broad flat ledge 
reaches but a short distance and then the perpendic- 
ular wall appears to stop your farther progress. * * 
By the aid of gunpowder a sufficient quantity of the 
rock has been removed to afford a fearful footing around 
a point, which, when doubled, discloses a world of cat- 
aracts, all leaping forward in most magnificent confu- 
sion. I suffered considerably before I reached the 
spot where this grand scene is visible; a chain firmly 
fastened to the rock serves to hang by, as you creep 
along the giddy verge, and this enabled me to proceed 
so far; but here the chain failed, and my courage with 
it, though the rest of the party continued for some way 
farther, and reported of still increasing sublimity. 
But my knees tottered, and my head swam, so while 
the rest crept onward, I sat down to wait their return 
on the floor of the rock which had received us on quit- 
ting the steps. 

"A hundred and fifty feet of beu-e black rock on one 
side, an equal height covered with solemn cedars on 
the other, an unfathomed torrent roaring between 
them, and the idea of my children clinging to 
the dizzy path I had left, was altogether somber 
enough. But I had not sat long before a tremendous 
burst of thunder shook the air; the deep chasm an- 
swered from either side, again, again, and again; the 



UO THE GOLDEN ERA 

whole eflfect was so exceedingly grand, that I had no 
longer leisure to think of fear; my children immedi- 
ately returned, and we enjoyed together the dsirkening 
shadows cast over the abyss, the rival clamor of the 
torrent and the storm, and the delightful exaltation 
of the spirits which sets danger at defiance. A few 
heavy raindrops alarmed us more than all the terrors 
of the spot, and recalled our senses. We retreated by 
the fearful steps and reached the hotel unwetted and 
unharmed. The next morning we were again early 
afoot; the storm had refreshed the air and renewed 
our strength. We now took a different route and, 
instead of descending as before, walked through the 
dark forest along the cliff, catching glimpses of the 
scene below." In due time Mrs. TroUope and party 
reach the finest point to view the falls, the rustic rest- 
house, commemorated in Miss Sedgwick's "Clarence," 
perched over the tremendous whirlpool at the Great 
or High Falls. Here they bid farewell to the charms 
of Trenton and return to Utica in time for dinner, 
"where," says Mrs. TroUope, "we found we must 
either wait until the next day for the Rochester coach 
or again submit to the packet boat." 



OF TRENTON FALLS Ui 



Captain Basil Hall 

Captain Basil Hall of the Royal Navy, an earlier 
British traveler in America, varied the vicissitudes of 
the journey by canal from Albany to Buffalo by the 
employment of an "Exclusive Extra." He made an 
arrangement with the proprietor of one of the regular 
lines of coaches who agreed to furnish him a stage ex- 
clusively for himself and family, all the way from Al- 
bany to the Falls of Niagara for one hundred and fif- 
teen dollars. It was stipulated that the entire trip 
could be accomplished in three days or it could, if de- 
sired, be extended three weeks. "In no other part of 
America," says Captain Hall, "are there such facih- 
ties for traveUing as we found on the road in question. 
On the 14th of June, 1827, we left Albany to proceed 
to the western country. Our first grand stage was 
Niagara, but on the way to that celebrated spot we 
expected to see the grand Erie Canal, the newly set- 
tled districts along its banks, and many other inter- 
esting objects besides." One of these was Trenton 
Falls! 

"Our first day's journey took us to Schenec- 
tady," says Captain Hall, "where we boarded the 
packet boat. I cannot conceive a more beautiful 
combination of verdure than we found along the Mo- 
hawk Valley and, as the winding of the canal brought 
us in sight of fresh vistas, new cultivation, new vil- 



la THE GOLDEN ERA 

lages, mills, scattered dwellings, churches, all span 
new, a boundless vision of novel interest stretched 
out before us. 'Bridge, passengers, mind the low 
bridge,' broke in upon our day-dreams and disturbed 
our pleasure, as we had so frequently to step down 
from off the deck to pass under one of the innumer- 
able little bridges which cross the canal. It was at 
first rather amusing to hop down and then hop up, 
but after a time it grew wearisome and marred the 
tranquility of the day. At Caughnawaga we set out 
again in our 'extra stage' — one day of the canal was 
quite enough." Captain Hall arrived on the 18th 
in Utica, "a town recently built, with several church 
spires rising over it, and standing near the canal." 
From this point he makes the excursion to Trenton 
Falls, which he declares are well worth seeing, but as 
he is not so sure of their being equally acceptable in 
description, he passes them by, adding, "I would by 
no means recommend travellers to follow such an ex- 
ample." Captain Hall's lifelong ambition was to see 
Niagara and now, when so near the goal, it must have 
been at considerable sacrifice of personal feeling that 
he de toured to visit Trenton. "When my expiecta- 
tions were about to be realized," he writes, "my feel- 
ings were akin to what I experienced at St. Helena 
when waiting in Napoleon's outer room, conscious 
that I was separated from this astounding person 
only by a door which was about to open. So it was 
with Niagara when I knew that, at the next turn of 
the road, I should behold the most splendid sight on 
earth." 




THE VERY TREES AS THEY BEND FROM THEIR WALLED BANKS 
SEEM IN ACT OF REVERENCE," 



OF TRENTON FALLS ^3 



Harriet Martineau 

Harriet Martineau richly supplies what Captain 
Hall and certain other visitors to Trenton lack in de- 
scription, and I quote several pages from her "Retro- 
spect of Western Travel": 

*'We proceeded by railroad from Albany to Schen- 
ectady (October, 1834) and there stepped into a canal 
boat for Utica. Oa fine days it is pleasant enough 
sitting outside (except for having to duck under the 
bridges every quarter of an hour, under penalty of 
having one's head crushed to atoms), and in dark even- 
ings the approach of the boat lights on the water is a 
pretty sight; but the horrors of night and of wet days 
more than compensate for all the advantages these 
vehicles can boast. The heat and noise, the known 
vicinity of a compressed crowd, lying packed like her- 
rings in a barrel, the bumping against the sides of the 
locks, and the hissing of water therein, like an inunda- 
tion startling one from sleep; these things eu'e very 
disagreeable. In addition to other discomforts we 
passed the fine scenery of Little Falls in the night. I 
was not aware what we had missed till I traversed the 
Mohawk Valley by a better conveyance nearly two 
years afterward. I have described this valley in my 
other work on America and must, therefore, restrain 
my pen from dwelling on its beauties here." One 
feature of the inns noted by Miss Martineau was the 
American propensity for rocking chairs — the ladies 



44 THE GOLDEN ERA 

were always rocking, and rocking chairs were every- 
where in evidence. "It is well," she says, "that the 
gentlemen can be satisfied to sit still, or the world 
might be treated with the spectacle of the subHme 
American Senate see-sawing in full deliberation. * * 

" I was out early in the misty morning and was pres- 
ently joined by the rest of my party, all looking eagerly 
for signs of Utica being near. By eight o'clock we were 
at the wharf. We thought Utica the most extempore 
place we had yet seen. The streets running into the 
woods, seemed to betoken that the place had sprung 
out of some sudden need. How much more ancient 
and respectable did it seem, after my return from the 
West, where I had seen towns so much newer still ! We 
were civilly received and accommodated at Bagg's 
Hotel, where we knew how to value cold water, spa- 
cious rooms, and retirement after the annoyances of 
the boat. 

"Our baggage-master was fortunate in securing a 
neat, clean stage to take us to Trenton Falls (14 miles) 
where we promised ourselves the pleasure of spending 
the whole day, on condition of being off by five the 
next morning, in order to accomplish the distance to 
Syracuse in the course of the day. The reason for 
our economy of time was not merely that it was late 
in the season, and every day which kept us from the 
Falls of Niagara of consequence, but that our German 
friend, Mr. 0., was obhged to be back in New York by 
a certain day. We clapped our hands at the sight of 
the 'Rural Resort,' the comfortable, hospitable 
house of entertainment at Trenton standing in its gar- 



OF TRENTON FALLS ^5 

den on the edge of the forest, so unlike hotels on the 
high road." 

The party registered at the hotel October 8, 1834, 
as follows: 

*Miss Martineau, England. 

Mrs. Jeffrey, 

Dr. Julius, Hamburg, Germany. 

Mr. Higham, South CaroUna. 

Mr. Oppenheim, Hamburg, Germany. 

Mr. Sellem, Holland. 

"We ordered," continues Miss Martineau, "a late 
dinner and proceeded to the falls. We had only to 
follow a path in the pine forest for a few paces, and 
we were at the edge of the ravine which encloses the 
cascades. It is a pity that the Indian name is not re- 
tained. Trenton Falls are called Cayoharic (Kauy- 
ahoora) by the Indians. They are occasioned by 
the descent of West Canada Creek through a ravine, 
where it makes a succession of leaps from platforms 
of rock, six of these falls being pretty easily accessible 
by travellers. Much has been said of the danger of 
the enterprise of ascending the ravine; but I saw no 
peril to persons who are neither rash nor nervous. 
The two accidents which have happened have, I be- 
lieve, been owing, the one to extreme rashness, and the 
other to sudden terror. From the edge of the ravine 
the black water, speckled with white foam, is seen 
rushing below with a swiftness which half turns the 

*During their voyage across the Atlantic, Miss Martineau and her com" 
panion, Mrs. Jeffrey, made up a party to tour the State of New York with 
certain of their shipmates including " a German and a Dutch gentleman and 
the Prussian physician and young South Carolinian." 



U6 THE GOLDEN ERA 

head of the stranger. We descended five flights of 
wooden steps fixed against the steep face of the rock, 
and at the bottom found ourselves at the brink of the 
torrent. 

" I was never in so dark and chill a place in the open 
air ; yet the sun was shining on the opposite face of the 
rock, lighting the one scarlet maple which stood out 
from among the black cedars and dark green elms. 
We selected our footing with a care which we were 
quite ready to ridicule when we came back; and were 
not above grasping the chain which is riveted into the 
rock where the shelf which forms the path is narrowest 
and where the angles are sharpest. The hollow is 
here so filled with the voice of many waters, that no 
other can be heard; and after many irreverent shouts 
had been attempted, we gave up all attempts to con- 
verse till we reached a quieter place. Being impa- 
tient to see the first fall I went on before the rest, and 
having cHmbed the flight of wooden steps, so wetted 
with the spray of the fall as to be slippery as ice, I 
stood on the platform under a covert of rock foaming 
with the thunder of the waters, and saw my compan- 
ions, one by one, turn the angle of the path and pause 
in front of the sheet of liquid amber sprinkled with 
snow. The path on which they stood seemed too nar- 
row for human foot and, when discerning me, they 
waved their hands, I trembled lest, disregarding their 
footing, they should be swept away by the furious tor- 
rent. When we found our heads turning with the rush 
of the dark waters, we amused ourselves with admir- 



OF TRENTON FALLS U7 

ing the little wells in the rock, and the drip from the 
roots of a cedar projecting from the top of the ravine, 
a never-failing glittering shower. Between the fifth 
and sixth fall there is a long tranquil reach of water, 
and here we Hngered to rest our bewildered senses be- 
fore entering upon the confusion of rocks through which 
the sixth forces its way. We see-sawed upon a fallen 
trunk, sent autumn leaves whirling down the stream, 
and watched the endless dance of the balls of foam 
which had found their way into the tiny creeks and 
bays opposite, and could not get out again. 

"Gay butterflies seemed quite at home in this ra- 
vine. They flit through the very spray of the falls. 
It seemed wonderful that an insect could retain its 
frail Hfe in the midst of such an uproar. When the 
sun in its course suddenly shone full into the glen, how 
the cascade was instantly dressed in glory, crowned 
with a rainbow and invested with all radiant hues! 
How the poor banished Indians must mourn when the 
lights of their Cayoharic (Kauyahoora) visit their 
senses again in the dreams of memory or of sleep! 
The recollections of these poor exiles was an ever-pres- 
ent saddening thought in the midst of all the most 
beautiful scenes of the New World. 

"When we had surmounted the sixth fall, we saw 
indeed that we could go no farther. A round projec- 
tion of rock, without trace of a foothold, barred us 
from the privacy of the upper ravine. The falls there 
are said to be as beautiful as any that we saw, and it 
is to be hoped that, by blasting a pathway or by some 



US THE GOLDEN ERA 

other means, they also may be laid open to the affec- 
tions of happy visitors. They have been seen and re- 
ported of. A friend of mine has told me, since I was 
there, how Bryant the poet and himself behaved like 
two thoughtless boys in this place. Clambering about 
by themselves one summer day, when their wives had 
gone back to the house, they were irresistibly tempted 
to pass the barrier and see what lay beyond. They 
met with so many difficulties and so much beauty 
higher up, that they forgot all about time, till they 
found themselves in utter darkness. They hastened 
to grope their way homeward through the forest and 
were startled after a while by shouts and moving lights. 
Till that moment they never recollected how alarmed 
their wives must be. It was past 10 o'clock and the 
poor ladies had got people from the neighborhood to 
go out with torches, little expecting to see their hus- 
bands come walking home, with nothing the matter 
with them but hunger and shame. I hope the ladies 
were exceedingly angry when their panic was over. 

"The forest at the top of the ravine was a study to 
me, who had yet seen but little forest. Moss cush- 
ioned all the roots of the trees ; hibiscus overspread the 
ground; among the pine stems there was a tangle of 
unknown shrubs, and a brilliant bird, scarlet except 
its black wings, hovered about as if it had no fear of 
us. Before we returned the moon hung like a gem 
over the darkness of the ravine. I spent another 
happy day among these falls some months after, and 
was yet more impressed with their singularity and 



OF TRENTON FALLS ^9 

beauty. * * * * We left the place a little after 
five in the morning, in a dismal rain. While break- 
fasting at Utica we engaged an 'Exclusive Extra' to 
carry us to Bujffalo for eighty dollars, the precise route 
being agreed upon, and the choice of times and sea- 
sons to remain with us. On going out to our carriage 
we found the steps of the hotel occupied by a number 
of persons, some from Boston, who offered me wel- 
come to the country, and any information or assistance 
I might need. One gentleman put into my hand a 
letter of introduction to an influential friend of his at 
Cincinnati, as it was understood I was going there. 
So from this strange place, where I had spent above 
two hours, we drove off amid a variety of friendly 
greetings. 

"This day I first saw a log house and first felt my- 
self admitted into the sanctuary of the forest. These 
things made the day full of interest to me, though the 
rain scarcely ceased from morning till night. Well- 
settled farms were numerous along the road, but in 
the intervals were miles of forests; daik thronging 
trees with their soft gay summits. Till now the au- 
tumn woods had appeared at a distance too red and 
rusty; these when looked into were the meeting of all 
harmonious colors. The cleared hoflows and slopes, 
with the forest ever advancing or receding, are as fine 
to the imagination as any natural language can be. I 
looked for an Indian or two standing on the forest 
verge, within a shade as dusky as himself, but for this 
I had to w£dt another day." 



50 THE GOLDEN ERA 

Miss Martineau paid her second visit to Trenton 
Falls, June 2, 1836, in company with some of the warm- 
est and noblest of the friends she made in America, 
by her fearless espousal of the Abolition cause — Mr. 
and Mrs. Ellis Gray Loring and Dr. and Mrs. Follen 
of Boston. 

Captain Frederick Marryat 

In July, 1837, the EngHsh novelist, Captain Marryat, 
came directly from Saratoga Springs to Utica on a 
through express, to visit Trenton Falls. He says in 
his "Diary in America": "There is one disadvan- 
tage attending railroads. Travellers proceed more 
rapidly, but they lose all the beauty of the country. 
Railroads, of course, run through the most level por- 
tions of the states, which are invariably uninteresting. 
The road from Schenectady to Utica is one of the ex- 
ceptions to this rule. There is not, perhaps, a more 
beautiful variety of scenery to be found anywhere. 
You run the whole way through the lovely valley of the 
Mohawk on the banks of the river. It was really de- 
lightful, but the motion was so rapid that you lamented 
passing by so fast. The Utica railroad is one of the 
best in America; the eighty miles are performed in 
four hours and a half, stoppages for taking in water, 
passengers and refreshments, included. The locomo- 
tive was of great power, and as it snorted along with a 
train of carriages of a half a mile in tow, it threw out 
such showers of fire, that we were constantly in danger 




THE RURAL RETREAT 



"Time, glorious river, may change thy fall. 
Never the picture on memory's wall" 



OF TRENTON FALLS 51 

of conflagration. The weather was too warm to ad- 
mit of the windows being closed, and the ladies, as- 
sisted by the gentlemen, were constantly employed in 
putting out the sparks which settled on their clothes. 
As the evening closed in we were actually whirled along 
through a stream of fiery threads, a beautiful, although 
humble imitation of the tail of a comet. 

*'A tremendous thunder-storm, with torrents of 
rain, prevented my leaving Utica for Trenton Falls 
until late in the afternoon. The roads, ploughed up 
by the rain, were anything but democratic; there was 
no level in them, and we were jolted and shaken hke 
peas in a rattle, until we were silent from absolute 
suffering. 

" I rose the next morning (July 20th) at four o'clock. 
There was a heavy fog in the air, and you could not 
distinguish more than one hundred yards before you. 
I followed the path pointed out to me the night before, 
through a forest of majestic trees, and descending a 
long flight of steps found myself below the falls. The 
scene impressed me with awe — the waters roared 
through the deep chasm between two waUs of rock, 
one hundred and fifty feet high, waUs of black carbon- 
ate of Hme in perfectly horizontal strata, so equaUy 
divided that they appeared Hke sohd masonry. For 
fifty or sixty feet above the rushing waters they were 
smooth and bare; above that Une vegetation com- 
menced with small bushes, reaching to their summits, 
which were crowned with splendid forest trees, some 
of them inclining over the chasm, as if they would 



52 THE GOLDEN ERA 

peep into the abyss below and witness the wild tumult 
of the waters. 

"From the narrowness of the pass, the height of the 
rocks, and the superadded towering of the trees above, 
but a small portion of the heavens was to be seen, and 
this was not blue, but of a misty murky gray. The 
first sensation was that of dizziness and confusion, 
from the unusual absence of the sky above, and the 
dashing frantic speed of the angry boihng waters. The 
rocks have been blasted so as to form a path by which 
you may walk up to the first fall; but this path was at 
times very narrow, and you have to cling to the chain 
which is let into the rock. The heavy storm of the 
day before had swelled the torrent so that it rose nearly 
a foot above this path ; and before I had proceeded far, 
I found that the flood swept between my legs with a 
force which would have taken some people off their 
feet. The rapids below the falls are much grander 
than the falls themselves; there was one down in a 
chasm between two riven rocks which it was painful 
to look upon, and watch with what a deep plunge — what 
irresistible force the waters dashed down and then re- 
turned to their own surface, as if strugghng and out 
of breath. As I stood over them in their wild career, 
listening to their roaring as if in anger, and watching 
the madness of their speed, I felt a sensation of awe — 
an inward acknowledgment of the tremendous power 
of Nature; and, after a time, I departed with feehngs 
of gladness to escape from thought which became 
painful when so near to danger. 



OF TRENTON FALLS 53 

"I gained the lower falls, which now covered the 
whole width of the rock, which they seldom do except 
during freshets. They were extraordinary from their 
variety. On the side where I stood, poured down a 
rapid column of water; on the other it was running 
over a clear, thin stream, as gentle and amiable as 
water could be. That part of the fall reminded me 
of ladies' hair in flowing ringlets, and the one nearest 
me of Lord Chancellor Eldon, in all the pomposity 
and frowning dignity of his full-bottomed wig. And 
then I thought of the lion and the lamb, not lying 
down, but falling down together; and then I thought 
I was wet through, which was a fact." (Captain Mar- 
ryat says, when he reached the hotel at the close of 
the day, that he had no guides to pay, but that Na- 
ture had made a very considerable levy upon his ward- 
robe; his boots were bursting, his trousers were torn 
to fragments, and his hat was ruined.) "I chmbed 
up a ladder and came to a wooden bridge above the 
fall, which conveyed me to the other side. The bridge 
passes over a staircase of little falls, which is very pic- 
turesque. On the other side I climbed up a ladder of 
one hundred feet, and arrived at a little building where 
travellers are refreshed. Here you have a view of aU 
the upper falls, but these seem tame after witnessing 
the savage impetuosity of the rapids below." Cap- 
tain Marryat climbed still more steps and followed 
the forest path until he reached the summit of the 
cHff directly over the High Falls, where he says: "This 
scene is splendid. The black perpendicular rocks on 



54 THE GOLDEN ERA 

the other side; the succession of falls; the rapids roaring 
below; the forest trees rising to the clouds with occa- 
sional ghmpses of the skies — all this induces you to 
wander with your eyes from one point of view to an- 
other, never tiring of its beauty, wildness and vastness: 
if you do not exclaim with the Mussulman, God is 
great! you feel it through every sense, and at every 
pulsation of the heart." 

Washington Irving 

That Washington Irving was deeply impressed with 
the scenic wonders of America after his second visit 
to Europe, is shown in a letter written at Trenton Falls 
to his brother Peter, residing in Paris. In the summer 
of 1832, shortly after his return to his native land, 
after seventeen years absence, accompanied by his 
friends. Count de Pourtales and Charles J. Latrobe, 
he set out upon an extensive western tour. From 
Saratoga Springs the party proceeded to Trenton 
Falls whence he writes his brother, August 15th: 
"This place has arisen into notice since your depar- 
ture from America. The falls are uncommonly beau- 
tiful, and are situated on West Canada Creek, the 
main branch of the Mohawk, within sixteen miles of 
Utica. My tour thus far has been through a contin- 
ued succession of beautiful scenes; indeed, the natural 
beauties of the United States strike me infinitely more 
than they did before my residence in Europe. We 
are now in a clean, airy, well furnished hotel, on a hill 



OF TRENTON FALLS 55 

with a broad, beautiful prospect in front, and forests 
on all the other sides. Our table is excellent and we 
are enjoying as pure and dehghtful breezes as I did 
in the Alhambra. The murmur of the neighboring 
waterfalls lulls me to a dehcious summer nap, and in 
the morning and evening I have glorious bathing in 
the clear waters of the Httle river." 

The marvelous view of the High Falls which charmed 
every visitor was fittingly christened "Irving Point," 
in commemoration of this great American's unbounded 
admiration for the inspiring scene. 

Latrobe's "Rambles in North America" con- 
tains this allusion to the visit to Trenton Falls 
referred to by Washington Irving. "On leaving 
Saratoga Springs we proceeded up the lovely valley 
of the Mohawk — the earth hardly contains one more 
deserving of the epithet — to Utica about one hundred 
miles distant. There we left the Great Western Road 
and, turning to the northward, buried ourselves in the 
delicious woods and dells of Trenton Falls, one of the 
most interesting localities in the state. This clear 
stream dashes over successive cascades in the depth 
of one of the most interesting ravines, both for its 
natural scenery and geological structure in the coun- 
try." 



56 THE GOLDEN ERA 



William Dunlap 

In 1814, when the British attacked the National 
Capital, Washington Irving offered his services to his 
country, and Governor Daniel B. Tompkins of New 
York, immediately appointed him his aide and military 
secretary. "Colonel" Washington Irving at once se- 
cured material assistance for a struggling artist friend 
by suggesting to Governor Tompkins the appointment 
of William Dunlap, later founder of the National Acad- 
emy of Design and a pupil of Benjamin West, as As- 
sistant Paymaster General of the State of New York. 
Mr. Dunlap was busily engaged painting portraits 
when notified of his appointment, and he writes thus 
of his itinerary through the state in the performance 
of his duties: "In paying off mihtia from Montauk 
Point to Lake Erie, I practiced my profession more 
than ever as an artist. A habit of early rising and 
pedestrian exercise gave me time to visit and make 
drawings of interesting spots within several miles of 
the place at which I was to labor the remainder of the 
(jg^y ***** jjj ^Yie spring of 1823 I was in- 
vited by James H. Hackett, since so well known as a 
comedian, then keeping a store at Utica, to come to 
that place, with assurances of his engaging some work 
for my pencil. I proceeded from Albany, whence I 
took letters from Samuel Hopkins and Stephen Van 
Rensselaer to gentlemen in Utica, and in due time 



OF TRENTON FALLS 57 

arrived at Bagg's Hotel by stage, where I had boarded 
for some time in 1815 when acting as paymaster. I 
noted with astonishment the growth of the town since 
my visit eight years before. Mr. Hackett received me 
cordially, and I found old acquaintances in James and 
Walter Cochrane, and made lasting friends in John H. 
Lothrop, Esq., Cashier of the Bank of Ontario, Ed- 
mund A. Wetmore, since his son-in-law, and Mr. 
Walker and his son Thomas. In short, during a 
spring and summer residence, I became much at home 
in Utica and painted a number of portraits. With my 
taste for the picturesque and more for rambhng, it 
may be supposed that I did not miss the opportunity 
the neighborhood afforded of visiting Trenton Falls, 
to which place I rode once and once walked, stopping 
a day and making sketches." 

Alexander Mackaye 

Among illustrious Enghshmen who came to Trenton 
in the good old days, were Alexander Mackaye and 
Anthony TroUope. The former, an eminent journal- 
ist, traveled much in America and pubHshed in 1849 
"The Western World," in three volumes, the most 
complete work upon the United States which had yet 
appeared. Mr Mackaye came from Niagara in the 
month of August, 1847, and was charmed with the beau- 
ties of the Genesee country as he journeyed through 
western New York. 

Like all foreigners he was amazed at the strangely 



58 THE GOLDEN ERA 

incongruous nomenclature of the region and says: 
"Names are jumbled together in ludicrous juxtaposi- 
tion ; sometimes one and the same county in the New 
World contains two towns for which there was scarcely 
room enough on two continents in the Old ; a singular 
circumstance, when one considers the many beautiful 
and expressive Indian names which might have been 
appropriated. Leaving Niagara, one of the first places 
you meet is Attica, from which a single stage brings 
you to Batavia. A little to the east of Rochester you 
pass through Egypt to Palmyra, whence you pro- 
ceed to Vienna, and shortly afterwards arrive at 
Geneva. Ithaca is some distance off to the right, 
while Syracuse, Rome, Utica, follow in succession to 
the eastward. It is a pity that the people have not 
contented themselves with indigenous names." 

Emerging from the long stretch of dense forest, the 
"Oneida Woods," Mr. Mackaye reached the Mohawk 
Valley and soon found himself in Utica, of which he 
says: "This is a fine town with from twelve to fifteen 
thousand inhabitants. The Erie Canal passes through 
the center of it, and it is crossed at right angles by the 
noble Genesee street which, as seen from the canal 
bridge, is exceedingly striking." Mr." Mackaye was re- 
minded of his visit to Utica a few years before, when 
he strolled into the Supreme Court of the State, then 
in session in the city, and found James Fenimore 
Cooper trying his own case against William L. Stone, 
editor of a New York paper, whom he had sued for 
libel. 



OF TRENTON FALLS 59 

"The tourist," writes Mr. Mackaye, "should always 
make a halt at Utica to visit the falls of Trenton in its 
neighborhood. On the morning after my arrival I 
hired a conveyance and proceeded to them. Imme- 
diately upon leaving the city I crossed the Mohawk — 
here a sluggish stream of insignificant dimensions. 
Moore must have seen it much lower down, ere 
he could speak of the 'mighty Mohawk.' The road 
then led, for nearly a couple of miles, over a tract 
of rich bottom land, as flat as the fertile levels of the 
Genesee valley. It then rose for the next six miles 
by a succession of gentle slopes, which constitute the 
northern side of the valley of the Mohawk. On reach- 
ing the summit I turned to look at the prospect behind 
me. It was magnificent. The valley in its entire 
breadth lay beneath me. As far as the eye could reach 
it was cultivated like a garden. On the opposite side 
of the river, whose serpentine course I could trace for 
miles, lay Utica, its skylights and tin roofs glistening 
like silver in the mid-day sun. The opposite side of 
the valley was dotted with villages, some of which 
were plainly visible to me, although from twelve to 
twenty miles distant in a straight aerial line. For 
the rest of the way to Trenton the road descended by 
a series of sloping terraces, similar to those by which it 
had risen from the valley. 

"After taking some refreshment at the hotel, which 
is beautifully situated, spacious and comfortable, and 
which at the time was full of visitors, I descended the 
precipitous bank to look at the falls. I dropped by a 



60 THE GOLDEN ERA 

steep, zigzag staircase of prodigious length, to the mar- 
gin of the stream, which flowed in a volume as black 
as ink over its gray rocky bed. Frowning precipices 
rose for some distance on either side, overhung with 
masses of rich, dark green foliage. A projecting mass 
of rock immediately on my left seemed to interpose 
an effectual barrier to my progress up the stream. 
But on examining it more carefully, I found it begirt 
with a narrow ledge overhanging the water, along which 
a person with a tolerably cool head could manage to 
proceed by laying hold of the chain, fastened for his 
use to the precipice on his left. On doubling this point 
the adventurous tourist is recompensed for all the 
risks incurred by the sight which he obtains of the 
lower fall. It is exceedingly grand, but it is the accom- 
panying scenery, more than the cataract itself, that 
excites your admiration. The opposite bank is high 
and steep, but not precipitous, and is buried in ver- 
dure; whilst that on which you stand rises for about 
two hundred feet like a gray wall beside you. * * * 
Climbing from ledge to ledge, the friendly chain aiding 
you, every now and then in your course you find your- 
self on a line with the upper level of the fall. Here the 
cataract next in order comes in full view, and a mag- 
nificent object it is, as its broken and irregular aspect 
rivets your attention. It is by far the largest fall of 
the whole series, being, in fact, more like two falls 
close together, than one. There are two successive 
plunges, the first being perpendicular, and the second, 
a short but fierce rapid foaming between them, being 



OF TRENTON FALLS 61 

divided into a succession of short leaps by the jagged 
and irregular ledge over which it is taken. By the 
time you reach the level of the top of this fall, by 
climbing the steep and slippery rock, you reach the 
wooded part of the bank. Your progress is now com- 
paratively easy, the path occasionally leading you be- 
neath the refreshing shade of the large and lofty trees. 
Below you had the naked rock rising in one unbroken 
volume precipitously overhead; but you have now on 
either side what may be regarded more as the ruin of 
rock, the trees with which both banks are covered 
springing, for most part, from between huge detached 
masses, which seem to have been confusedly hurled 
from some neighboring height. 

"The channel of the stream is broad and shallow up 
to the next fall, which in its dimensions and appearance, 
resembles a mill-dam. Above, the river contracts 
again, until in some places it is only a few yards wide, 
where it foams and roars as it rushes in delicious whirl 
over its rocky bed. A little way up is the last cataract, 
the most interesting in some respects, although the 
smallest of all (the Cascade of the Alhambra). To 
pass it you have to turn a projecting point, the narrow 
footpath bringing you almost in contact with the rush- 
ing tide. Here the chain is almost indispensable for 
safety. The gorge through which the West Can- 
ada Creek here forces its way, is about two miles in 
length. I managed with great difficulty, and with the 
aid of a guide, to ascend it to the small village above, 
returning to the hotel by the open road leading along 
the top of the bank." 



62 THE GOLDEN ERA 



TRENTON FALLS 

"Thine is the charm, O Kauyahoora bright! 
'Tis not the infant cascade's airy dress 
Nor old Niagara's sacerdotal robe 
That clothes thy stream between these knightly cliffs; 
But, in the amber, seemly and mature, 
Of rich experience and hopeful strength 
Thou'rt clad; and when Apollo from his height 
Above the trees (Briareus-like that lift 
Their hundred arms aloft in mute surprise) 
Smiles on thee, thou in turn dost smile. 
The golden glory of thy graceful form, 
With silver sandals shod, moves down the slope 
In conscious loveliness and majesty. 
Far down below, I mark the fretted foam 
Dash on the broad-tiled roof, beneath whose eaves 
The water-sprites must dwell. These issue forth 
Anon in merry troops to sweep away 
The vagrant spray, that, like a diamond dust 
Bestrews the verdure of thy lichened walls." 

L. V. F. Randolph. 




HIGH FALLS FROM IRVING POINT 



OF TRENTON FALLS 63 



Anthony Trollope 

Hastening from Buffalo to New York in the fall of 
1861, the novelist, Anthony Trollope, writes in his 
work entitled "North America": "We had before 
us only two points of interest — the Falls of Trenton 
and West Point. The hotel at Trenton was closed for 
the season, I was told, but even if there were no hotel 
there the place can be visited without difficulty, as it 
is within carriage drive of Utica, and there is a direct 
railway from Utica with a station at Trenton Falls. 
Utica is a town on the line of railway from Buffalo to 
New York via Albany, and is like all the other towns 
we have visited. There are broad streets, and ave- 
nues of trees, and leirge shops, and excellent houses. A 
general air of fat prosperity pervades them all, and is 
strong at Utica as elsewhere. 

"I remember to have been told thirty years ago that 
a traveller might go far and wide in search of the pic- 
turesque, without finding a spot more romantic in its 
loveliness than Trenton Falls. The name of the river 
is Canada Creek West; but as that is hardly euphoni- 
ous, the course of the water which forms the falls has 
been called after the town or parish. This course is 
nearly two miles in length, and along the space it is 
impossible to state where the greatest beauty exists. 
To see Trenton aright one must be careful not to have 
too much water. If there is too much the passage up 



eU THE GOLDEN ERA 

the rocks along the river is impossible. The way on 
which the tourist should walk becomes the bed of the 
stream, and the great charm of the place cannot be 
enjoyed. That charm consists in descending into the 
ravine of the river, down amidst the rocks through 
which it has cut its channel, and in walking up the bed 
against the stream, and in climbing the sides of the 
various falls, every foot of the way being wildly beau- 
tiful. * * * * Up i^eyond the summer-house the 
passage along the river can be continued another mile, 
but it is rough, and the climbing in some places rather 
difficult for ladies. Every man, however, should do 
it, for the succession of rapids, the twisting of the chan- 
nels, and the forms of the rocks are as wild and beau- 
tiful as the imagination can desire. The banks of the 
river are closely wooded on each side; and though this 
circumstance does not at first seem to add much to the 
beauty, seeing that the ravine is so deep that the ab- 
sence of wood above would hardly be noticed, still 
there are broken clefts ever and anon through which 
the colors of the foliage show themselves, and add to 
the wildness and charm of the whole. 

"The walk back from the summer-house through 
the wood is very lovely; but it would be a disappoint- 
ing walk to visitors who have been prevented by a 
flood in the river from coming up the channel, for it 
indicates plainly how requisite it is that the river 
should be seen from below and not from above. The 
best view of the larger fall is that seen from the wood 
(Irving Point). We found a small hotel open at Tren- 



OF TRENTON FALLS 65 

ton, at which we got a comfortable dinner, and then 
in the evening were driven back to Utica." 

An entertaining book on the United States and 
Canada, entitled "Life and Liberty in America," 
was published in 1859 by the EngHsh poet, author and 
lecturer, Charles Mackaye. He did not visit the pop- 
ular Trenton Falls, and he tells us why, in the sketches 
of his tour in this country. "Early in November, 
1857," Mr. Mackaye writes, "I took the train at Bos- 
ton for Niagara. My first resting place was Albany, 
the next Utica, where it was my original intention to 
remain two or three days to visit the Trenton Falls, as 
beautiful, though not so grand as Niagara, though by 
many travellers preferred to the more stupendous 
marvel of the two. But on learning that the hotel, 
the only house in the place, had long been closed for 
the season, I held on my way. A sudden fall of snow 
just as I was debating the question, was the last feather 
that broke the back of the camel of Doubt and made 
me press on to my journey's end." 

Mrs. M. C. Houstoun 

In the thirties an English author, Mrs. Houstoun, 
visited America, and the result was two volumes 
of description of sights and scenes in the New World 
entitled, "Hesperus, or Travels in the West." Mrs. 
Houstoun landed in Boston in October, proceeded 
to Albany, and pushed on to Niagara with all haste, 
lest the trees should be denuded of their beautiful au- 



66 THE GOLDEN ERA 

tumn foliage before she reached the object of her 
dreams. But Trenton lay in her way and she could 
not pass it by ! Enroute the rich valley of the Mohawk 
excited her admiration, of which she says: "After 
passing Schenectady we travelled through some ex- 
ceedingly beautiful scenery. During the latter part 
of the day's journey we passed through several pleas- 
ant looking villages, the beauty of one of which deserves 
to be recorded by the magic pen of Miss Mitford her- 
self. It lay imbedded between high granite rocks, 
from the clefts in which the pine and the cypress shot 
their dark green foliage; while a beautiful fall of the 
Mohawk dashed along through the narrow valley, and 
glistened and sparkled in the sunshine. Altogether, I 
thought it one of the most lovely spots on which my 
eye had ever rested. Its name is Little Falls. * * * * 
I never saw so busy a place as Utica. The stores, 
which are large and handsome, seem to contain every- 
thing that the most unreasonable person could possi- 
bly desire, and the demand was evidently as great as 
the supply. This was the more remarkable, from the 
circumstance that Utica has sprung up with mush- 
room-Uke rapidity in the very heart of the wilderness. 
The Erie Canal and the railroad, both of which run 
through the town, have done wonders for it, and the 
surrounding country is one of the richest and best cul- 
tivated in the United States. We have taken up our 
quarters at Bleecker's Hotel; it is an immense build- 
ing, but a considerable portion of it is shut up for the 
season. 




THE CASCADE OF THE ALHAMBRA WHERE THE WATERS '"LEAP AND 
FOAM AND play" 



OF TRENTON FALLS 67 

"Of course, the main object of our curiosity was 
the celebrated Trenton Falls, and we lost no time grat- 
ifying it. The morning after our arrival, therefore, we 
arose betimes and having hired a hght barouche, 
drawn by a pair of good shaped, active horses, we pre- 
pared to set off on our expedition. The distance 
to the falls is about fifteen miles, and the owner 
of the vehicle informed us that the road was 'first- 
rate.' The morning was fine, and a crowd of well- 
wishers were assembled at the door of the hotel to 
see the Britishers off. The landlord took especial 
care in providing for our comfort, and as we rattled 
off, there was a cheering shout 'AH right!' 'Go ahead!' 
which was heard half way down the street. We 
had not proceeded far when we began to suspect 
that the 'first-rate' road of which we had heard ex- 
isted only in the imagination of the livery stable 
keeper. Nothing, in short, but the distant hope 
of arriving at last at Trenton Falls would have sup- 
ported us through the bumping and jolting we under- 
went. (This was before the highway had been im- 
proved by the building of the plank road in 1851.) In 
the course of three hours, and not before— for there is 
much up-hill and down-hill work— we reached the inn 
to which travellers in search of the picturesque must 
betake themselves, for it is the only house in sight of 
the falls. The hotel is situated on the borders of the 
forest, and looks over a great extent of country; but on 
arriving at its door, which stood invitingly open, we 
were quite unprepared to find such grand scenery so 



68 THE GOLDEN ERA 

immediately in its neighborhood. Owing to the late- 
ness of the season, the house was nearly without in- 
habitants. 

"Guides or helps there were none, but we were told 
that we could not mistake our way to the falls; so, with- 
out delay, we followed the path pointed out to us. On 
arriving at the high bank of the river, which is a few 
hundred yeu-ds from the hotel, we descended the long 
flight of steps and found ourselves at the bottom of a 
chasm down which the river rushes with inconceivable 
force. The platform on which we stood was a smooth 
slab of stone, broad, level and slippery, and the black and 
brawling stream was on a level with this natural pave- 
ment. The river was not wide, and as we watched it 
pursuing its vexed and tumultuous course within a few 
feet of where we stood, I could almost have fancied it 
some living thing, fretting at the vast and insurmount- 
able impediments which nature had placed in its way. 
On either side of it rose perpendicular rocks of black 
limestone, the strata being so exactly horizontal and 
equal in thickness, that one could hardly help imagining 
it to be the work of human hands. About half way up 
these natural and fearful boundaries grew small and 
stunted trees, clinging for life to the narrow fissures 
in the rocks and bending down their heads towards 
the mighty torrent. Above these dwarf cypress and 
hemlock shrubs, rose high in air the giant trees of 
the primeval forests, which nearly met above our 
heads. And there above was the glorious sky, reduced 
to a narrow strip of blue by distance, and the awful 



OF TRENTON FALLS 69 

rocks on either side of us. We turned our eyes upward 
to gaze on it, and then the sensation of awe and 
wonder was complete. 

"At this time the falls were still hidden from our 
view by a projecting elbow in the rock, at the very 
base of which the angry waters rushed with tenfold 
impetuosity. Round this point it was absolutely nec- 
essary that we should make our way, with the waters 
boiling at our feet. The path along which we had to 
creep was very narrow, and I clung to the chain with 
a grasp rendered convulsive by a sense of the immi- 
nent danger of our position. Having rounded the 
point I was amply repaid for all the terror I had un- 
dergone. The gorge beyond it becomes considerably 
wider, and as we looked up the stream a succession of 
magnificent waterfalls greeted our sight. The lowest 
was spanned by a frail bridge, but to attempt to de- 
scribe the scene upon which we gazed from it would 
be in vain. A wild waste of glittering and turbulent 
waters below, and the glorious forests above and about 
us, formed a picture which must be seen ere it can be 
appreciated. 

"When we returned to our inn by the way we had 
come, our host urged us to take a view of the falls from 
some high ground about a mile and a half from the 
house. The view from this point was, he assured us, 
even more beautiful than the one we had seen. But we 
had had (for that day at least) enough of such exciting 
scenes, and we agreed to spend the night and put off 
till the next day the sequel of sight-seeing. The sun 



70 THE GOLDEN ERA 

rose in all its bright autumnal beauty and saw us early 
on foot; and that forest walk, even if there had been 
no cataract view at the end of it, would, I think, have 
repaid me for any exertion. We did not miss our way, 
though we had great difficulty in tracing the path, so 
completely was it hidden by fallen leaves. After a 
time, however, the task became easier as the distant 
roar of the falls guided us to the spot from whence we 
were to view them. The trees grew very closely to- 
gether, and much of their foliage was gone, though 
enough still remained for beauty, and the tints were 
exquisite. A thick undergrowth of sycamore and yew 
covered the ground, while here and there a fallen tree, 
green with the moss of years, and shaded by fern leaves, 
offered a tempting seat. Many a little grey squirrel, 
startled by our voices, tripped up the stems of the 
trees, or sprang from one leafless bough to another for 
greater security. I neither saw nor heard a single 
bird, though the day was warm, and the sun shone 
brightly. Many, I suppose, had already taken their 
early flight to some brighter land, like sensible birds 
as they were, for a winter in this rigorous climate 
would not leave many alive to tell the tale of their 
sufl'erings. The falls, above which, after many rest- 
ings and delays, we arrived at last, are indeed beau- 
tiful. I was able to approach near enough to feel 
the light spray upon my face, and to find our voices 
perfectly inaudible by the din of the falling waters. 
There is a perpendicular rock over which the water 
falls from the height of a hundred feet. In the cen- 



OF TRENTON FALLS 71 

ter the fierce torrent divides, leaving the rock bare 
for a considerable space. At the base of the rock 
the two torrents unite again on a broad flat surface 
from which they again descend, boiHng and foaming 
down rocky steps and gigantic stones, till the whole 
falls together into the deep. natural basin I have be- 
fore attempted to describe. ******** 
I have said what I could of Trenton Falls, but after 
having done so, I 'am only the more convinced of the 
utter impossibihty of conveying to the mind of another 
any adequate idea of the reality of their overpowering 
beauty." 

James Russell Lowell 

My keen enjoyment and zest in the compilation of 
this offering to one of Nature's master-pieces reached 
its culmination when I discovered James Russell Low- 
ell and his lovely young wife, Maria White, at Trenton 
Falls— and this in company with that captivating 
little woman, the Swedish novehst, Fredrika Rremer! 
In her "Homes of the New World," pubhshed in 1853, 
she has presented no more charming picture than life 
at Elmwood, as she found it when she visited the Low- 
ell's in December, 1849. 

"Such a handsome, happy couple," she writes, "one 
can hardly imagine. He is full of fife and youthful 
ardor, and she is one of the most lovable women I have 
met in this country, because her beauty is full of soul 
and grace, as is everything which she does and says." 



72 THE GOLDEN ERA 

Lowell's impression of their honored guest is recorded 
in this letter to an intimate friend: "Fredrika Bremer 
stayed three weeks with us, and I do not like her, I love 
her. She is one of the most beautiful persons I have 
ever known — so clear, so simple, so right-minded and 
hearted, and so full of judgment. I believe she liked 
us, too, and had a good time." 

Ideal traveling companions they, and we can fancy 
with what enthusiasm the three planned a pleasure 
trip together! Before Miss Bremer left Boston to 
visit the southern states, she agreed to meet the "young 
Lowells" the next summer to visit Niagara, which 
Mrs. Lowell had never seen. I take up Miss Bre- 
mer's account in September, 1850, when the paity set 
out at Albany to enjoy the long anticipated treat: 
"The journey was glorious through the beautiful, 
fertile Mohawk Valley. The sun shone brilliantly 
over the rich landscape as we flew along the excellent 
railroad toward the West — the land of promise. My 
young friends enjoyed it as much as I did. 

" In the evening we arrived at Utica, where we were 
to remain one night. And while Maria rested, and 
James made arrangements for our next day's journey 
to Trenton Falls, I went out on an exploratory journey 
into the little city with the old republican name. 'I 
will go and look after Cato,' thought I to myself; 'per- 
haps he walks here once more.' And that he does, 
although in metamorphosis; that is to say, I saw upon 
the corners of two houses a printed placard, upon 
which I read, ' The tailoresses of the city of Utica call 



OF TRENTON FALLS 73 

a meeting at , next Wednesday, to consider 

what means can be taken to remove the oppressions 
under which we labor, and how we can best obtain 
cm* rights.' 

"Stern old advocate of the rights of the people who 
wouldst not live where thou sawest them destroyed 
by the hands of Caesar! old magnanimous Cato, who 
didst die for repubHcan freedom — thou art the victor 
after all! That which thou desiredst, that for which 
thou foughtest, is here in this new repubhc, a hving 
reahty two thousand years afterward. I see and read 
it here; even the lowest of the people may stand up 
for their rights, may make their speeches in the state's 
forum, equally with the most powerful, and obtain 
justice. Old republican, thou hast conquered! Thy 
spirit lives here mightier than in ancient Rome. 'The 
tailoresses of the city of Utica' prove this in the city 
which bears the name of thy birthplace. Pity only 
that they had not drawn their advertisement better! 
But that is of less consequence, as its purport is clear. 

"Thus I returned home, glad to have met the spirit 
of Cato, and to have seen in Utica many pretty and 
tastefully built houses surrounded by plantations. 
The streets in the lesser cities of America are a suc- 
cession of small detached villas, with their grass plots, 
elegant iron palisading, and fine trees in front of the 
houses. It is only in those portions of the towns in 
which shops are to be found that the houses are built 
close together, and rather with an eye to the advan- 
tage of business than for beauty. Still, a handsome 



74 THE GOLDEN ERA 

appearance and good proportion are never lost sight 
of, and everywhere order and neatness prevail. 

" 'Do you live happily and contentedly here in this 
city?' inquired I of a young shopman, who looked par- 
ticularly agreeable. 

" 'Oh, yes, indeed,' replied he frankly and cor- 
dially; 'we have good friends, good neighbors, and 
everything good. We could not wish it better.' An 
unusual state of happiness and contentment! 

"The next day we went with a carriage and horses 
to Trenton, in order to see the waterfall, which is 
cousin to Niagara in reputation. It is a wild and vio- 
lent fall, hurhng itself through an immense chasm of 
rock directly down a height of certainly a quarter of 
an English mile. The water, which has the color of 
clear sherry, leaps from between the lofty, dark walls 
of rock, Uke a Berserk, from ledge to ledge in the wild- 
est tumult, gleaming in the sun, tumbling into abysses, 
leaping up over masses of rock and trunks of trees, 
rending down and overwhelming everything in its ca- 
reer, flinging forth cascades of spray right and left into 
the wood, which stands as if dumb and trembling while 
the mighty giant hero passes by. It is magnificent; 
but too violent, too headlong. One is deafened by 
the thundering roar, and almost bhnded by the impet- 
uosity with which the masses of water are hurled for- 
ward. One becomes weeiried by it, as one does by 
anything extravagant, let it be as grand as it may ; one 
cannot hear one's own thoughts, much less those of 
others, even if they are shouted into one's ears. One 




ROCKY HEART 



OF TRENTON FALLS 75 

is out-talked, outdone, out-maddened by the giant's 
Berserker madness. Alone in its clear and glowing 
color could I see the divine fire, and when standing on 
a rocky terrace by the side of the fall, I took off my 
bonnet and let the spray rain over me, as it was flung 
down from the water like a mist; I then felt that the 
Mighty One could be even gentle and refreshing. 

"The scenery at Trenton is wild and picturesquely 
beautiful, but circumscribed. It is of Berserker char- 
acter. We spent the whole day at Trenton (Septem- 
ber 3, 1850), in company with the giant and the scen- 
ery around. The inn was a good and comfortable 
one, as are nearly afl the inns in this country, and was 
situated in a romantic stretch of dale scenery. We 
ate weU and slept well, and the next day we returned 
to Utica, and thence pursued our journey still farther 

West." 

Five years later James Russell Lowell came to Tren- 
ton again, but how different the scene, how changed 
the circumstances! Kauyahoora's voice was still— 
the ice king had conquered the giant Berserk— and he 

was alone. 

Some years ago when browsing in the rich field of 
Lowell's correspondence I discovered his charming 
description of Trenton Falls in winter, and withal a 
lovely picture of the ideal family life at the inn. It 
was in March, 1855, that this American poet and es- 
sayist paused at Utica when enroute to the west to fill 
several lecture engagements. After describing some 
disagreeable features of his journey in a letter to a 



76 THE GOLDEN ERA 

Cambridge friend, dated Madison, Wisconsin, April 
9, 1855, he says: "I like to keep my promises, and as 
I have had one very pleasant adventure, I will try to 
meike a letter of it. I have a nice httle oasis to talk 
about. I arrived, then, at Bagg's Hotel in Utica, 
which (the hotel) has a railroad running through it — 
so you may fancy how pleasant it is — to dinner, and 
it occurred to me that it was Saturday, that I was only 
twelve miles from Trenton Falls, and that I had no 
engagement till Monday evening. To the falls, then, 
I would go and spend Sunday. Mr. Baggs assured 
me that it would be in vain; that Mr. Moore at Tren- 
ton would not 'take anybody in' (so he dubiously 
phrased it) in winter; that I should have my cold drive 
for my pains. I had travelled enough not to take 
anything for granted — so I hired a 'cutter' and a pair 
of horses and a huge buffalo skin coat to drive, and set 
out. It was snowy and blowy and cold, and part of 
the way the snow was level with the backs of the horses 
(Bison-skin had prophesied it, but I did not believe 
till I saw)— think of it, on the 24th of March! We 
drove fast in spite of the deep snow, for we 'had the 
pootiest pair o' colts that went out o' Utiky,' and in 
about an hour and a half drew up in front of the huge 
deserted hotel, its dark color looking drearier in con- 
trast with the white snow and under the gathering 
twilight. I tried the front door in vain. The roll of 
skins suggested a door below. I went, knocked, and 
a grave, respectable man in black (looking not the 



OF TRENTON FALLS 77 

least like an American landlord) opened the door and 
said, 'Good evening, sir.' 

" 'Good evening, sir. Mr. Moore, I believe?' 

" 'That's my name, sir.' 

" 'Can you lodge me till Monday?' 

" 'We do not keep our house open in winter, and 
prefer to live privately, sir.' 

"This was said in such a quiet way that I saw there 
was nothing more to be said on the tavern side — so I 
changed my front. 

" 'I have seen the falls several times in summer,' 
(Mr. Lowell first visited Trenton July 31, 1836, when 
a student at Harvard) 'and I thought I should like 
to see them in their winter fashions. They must be 
even more beautiful, I fancy. I hoped also to have a 
quiet Sunday here, after a week's railroading' — and I 
gave a despairing look at the gloomy weather and the 
heap of bison skin. 

"Mr. Moore loves his falls and I had touched him. 

" 'I will ask Mrs. Moore, and see what she says; she 
will have all the trouble.' 

"He opened the door, said something I could not 
hear, and instantly a sweet, motherly voice said: 

" 'Certainly, by all means.' 

" 'Mrs. Moore says she will be happy to have you 
stay. Walk in, sir. I will have your luggage at- 
tended to.' 

"Meanwhile I had not told Mr. Moore my name, of 
which (however illustrious) I feared he might never 



75 THE GOLDEN ERA 

have heard, and there was no mark on trunk or carpet- 
bag by which he could discover it. 

"Presently we sat down to tea and I was charmed 
with the gentle and affectionate atmosphere of the 
family. There was a huge son and two little girls and 
a boy — I wish Wendell Holmes could have seen them — 
the stoutest children I ever saw. Then there was a 
daughter-in-law, a very sweet looking girl, with her first 
child, a lovely baby of a year old who never cried. I 
know that first babies never do — but he never did. 
After tea Mr. Moore and I smoked and talked together. 
I found him a man with tastes for medals, pictures, 
engravings, music and fruit culture. He played very 
well on a parlor organ and knew many artists whom I 
also knew. Moreover, he was a Unitarian. So we 
got along nicely. Mrs. Moore was handsome and 
gentle, and a great grand-daughter of Roger Sherman. 
After our cigars, Mr. Moore showed me his books, and 
among others the 'Homes of American Authors' 
(pubUshed by George P. Putnam in 1853). He asked 
me if I had seen it. Here was a chance for me to in- 
troduce myself quietly, so I said, ' Yes, and I will show 
you where I live.' I showed him accordingly the pic- 
ture of Elmwood, and he grew more friendly than ever. 

"I went out in the night to get my first view of 
the falls, refusing to be accompanied, and profusely 
warned of the ravine's frozen and slippery edges. 
They were shppery, but I did not tumble in, as you 
see. As I looked down into the gorge, after wan- 
dering through the giant hemlocks, nothing could 



OF TRENTON FALLS 79 

be finer. The edges of the stream were frozen 
and covered with Hght, new-fallen snow, so that 
by contrast the stream seemed black, wholly black. 
The night gave mystery to the profound abyss, and 
I fancied that it was the Water of Oblivion I was 
gazing down at. From afar I heard the murmur 
of the first fall, and though I thought I had under- 
stood Goethe's 'Fisher' as I have sat by the side 
of the sea, I never had fully till now. I felt again 
a true poetic enthusiasm revive in me, dead for so long. 
I feared to stay; there was such an impulse to leap 
down. For the first time I became conscious of the 
treachery of the ice-edge and walked back cautiously 
into the wood. Then I made my way among the 
trees and over fallen hemlock trunks, guided by the 
increasing murmur, to the first fall. I now found 
why there was so Httle roar. The fall was entirely 
muffled in ice. I could just see it through the dark- 
ness, a wall, or rather, veil of ice covering it whol- 
ly. It was perfectly a frozen waterfall, as I dis- 
covered the next morning, for the front of it had 
thawed in the sun, so that it was pohshed as water, 
and was ribbed and wrinkled like a cascade, while the 
heap of snowy debris below made the spray. 

"I went back to the house and (charming incon- 
sistency of this double nature of ours!) with the tears 
scarce dry in my eyes, sat down to smoke another 
cigar with Mr. Moore and to play Dr. Busby with the 
children," Here the letter is interrupted, but Mr. 
Lowell adds the following at the Burnett House, Gin- 



80 THE GOLDEN ERA 

cinnati, April 12th: "In the morning Mr. Moore took 
me out and showed the best points of view, after which 
he considerately left me. It was a cold morning and 
the spray, as it rose, crystalized in feathers on the 
shrubs and trees and sides of the gorge. For a few 
moments the sun shone and lighted up all these deli- 
cate ice ferns, which in texture were like those star- 
shaped flakes that fall from very cold clouds. After- 
wEirds I saw Niagara, but he is a coarser artist and had 
plastered all the trees like alabaster. He is a clumsy 
fellow compared with Kauyahoora. The ice work 
along the rocks at Trenton is very lovely. Sometimes 
it hangs lightly, honeycombed by the sun, and bent 
by the wind from the fall as it froze, looking like the 
Venetian lace drapery of an altar. At other times it 
has frozen in filtering stalactites, precisely like organ 
pipes." 

George William Curtis 

The following glowing tribute paid to Trenton by 
George William Curtis abounds in exquisite imagery: 
"In Longfellow's delicious proem to the 'Waif,' he in- 
vokes the singing of a song of rest. Sometimes, urges 
the poet, let us escape the battle cry and the bugle 
call, and repose that we may the better wrestle. 

" 'Such songs have the power to quiet 
The restless pulse of care, 
And come hke the benediction 
That follows after prayer.' 



OF TRENTON FALLS 81 

"Trenton is that summer song of rest. 

"Only lovely images haunt its remembrance, beau- 
tiful as the Iris which, in some happy moment of the 
ramble through the ravine, spans the larger or lesser 
fall. Beauty and grace are its praises. You hear 
them from those who are either hurrying to the gran- 
deur of Niagara, or from those who returning, step 
aside at Utica to enjoy the music of the greater cata- 
ract, softened here at Trenton into an exquisite echo. 
It matters little when you see these falls, whether be- 
fore or after Niagara. The charm of Trenton is 
unique, and you will not scorn the violets and liHes 
because you knelt to the passion-flowers and roses. 
In the prime of a summer which, from the abundant 
rains, is singularly unworn and unwithered, a day at 
Trenton, because of its rare and picturesque attrac- 
tions, is like a feast of flowers. In some choice niche 
of memory you will lay it aside, not as a subHme 
statue, but as a vase most delicate and symmetrical, 
and chased with pastoral tracery. 

"Poets' fancies only should image the falls, they 
are so rich and rare a combination of picturesque 
beauty! You descend from a lofty wood into a long, 
rocky chasm, which the Germans would call a Grand, 
for it is not a valley. It is walled and pavemented 
with smooth rocks, and the thronging forest fringes 
the summit of the waU. The chasm almost closes up 
the river, and you see a foamy cascade above. Then, 
as if the best beauty and mystery were beyond, you 
creep along a narrow ledge in the rockside of the throat 



82 THE GOLDEN ERA 

of the gorge, the water whirling and bubbling beneath, 
and reach the first fall. A slight spray enfolds you as 
a baptism in the spirit of the place. A broad ledge 
of the rock here offers firm and sufficient foothold 
while you gaze at the falls. Before you is a level par- 
apet of rock, and the river, after sliding very shallowly 
over the broad bed above, concentrates mainly at one 
point for a fall, and plunges in a solid amber sheet. 

"Close by the side of this you climb, and pass along 
the base of the overhanging mountain, and stooping 
under the foot of an imperial cliff, stand before the 
Great Fall, which has two plunges, a long one above, 
from which the river sheers obliquely over a polished 
floor of rock, and then again plunges. The river 
bends here, and a high, square, regular bank projects 
from the cliff, smooth as a garden terrace, and perpet- 
ually veiled and softened by the spray. It is one of 
the most beautiful and boldest points in the long ra- 
vine, and when the late light of afternoon falls soft 
upon it, there is a strange contrast in your feelings as 
visions of Boccaccio's garden mingle with the wildness 
of American woods." 

"Howadji" found the "Rural Retreat," overlook- 
ing the wonderful High Falls, an ideal spot to rest and 
muse. Visions of many wild and beautiful scenes in 
foreign lands came before his eyes, as he gazed upon 
the enchanting scene. The spell, the witchery of the 
ceaseless flowing amber fall conjured up names, places, 
and memories, which he ever after associated 
with Trenton Falls. Of the hotel he says: "There 




THE PATH THROUGH THE WOODS 



OF TRENTON FALLS 83 

is something especially pleasant in the tranquil, fam- 
ily-like character of the house at Trenton. It is by 
far the best hostelry of the kind that I have encoun- 
tered in my summer wandering; and, lying away from 
any town or railroad, the traveller seems to have 
stepped back into the days when travelling was an 
event and not a habit, and when the necessity of mod- 
eration in speed imposed a corresponding leisure in 
enjoyment. 

"Do not fail to see Trenton. It is various- voiced. 
It is the playing of lutes on the moonhght lawn — as 
Stoddard sings. It is well to listen for it in the steam- 
shriek of our career. For if once your fancy hears its 
murmur, you will be as the boatman who catches 
through the roar of the Rhine, the song of the Lorelei, 
and you too will be won to delicious repose." 

Jenny Lind 

Mr. Curtis gives a dehghtful account of his drive 
to Trenton in the summer of 1851. Upon his arrival 
at Utica he found that the regular coach had left for 
the falls. He therefore engaged a little open wagon, 
and thus describes the journey: "My charioteer 
was a fine boy of sixteen. He whipped along over 
the plank road and gossiped about the people and the 
places we passed. He was sharp-eyed and clear- 
minded — a bright boy who may one day be president. 
As we were slowly climbing the hiU, he said: 

" 'Have you heard Jenny Lind, sir?' 'Yes, often.' 



8U THE GOLDEN ERA 

"' Great woman, sir. Don't you think so?' 'I do.* 

" ' She was here last week, sir.' 'Did you hear her?* 
I asked. 

" 'Yes, sir; and I drove her to the falls — that is, Tom 
Higgins drove, and I sat on the box.' 'And was she 
pleased.^' 

" 'Yes, sir; only when she was going to see the falls, 
everybody in the hotel ran to the door to look at her, 
so she went back to her room and then slipped out the 
back door. But there was something better than that, 
sir.' 'What was that?' 

" 'She gave Tom Higgins fifty dollars when he drove 
her back. But there was still something better than 
that, sir.' 

" 'Indeed! what was that?' 

" 'Why, sir, as we came back, we passed a little wood, 
and she stopped the carriage and stepped out with the 
rest of the party, and me and Tom Higgins, and went 
into the wood. It was toward sunset and the wood 
was beautiful. She walked about a little and picked 
up flowers, and sung, like to herself, as if it were pleas- 
ant. By and by she sat down upon a rock and began 
to sing aloud. But before she stopped, a little bird 
came and sat upon a bough close by us. 

" 'I saw it, sir, with my own eyes, the whole of it — 
and when Jenny Lind had done, he began to sing and 
shout away like she did. While he was singing she 
looked delighted, and when he stopped she sang again, 
and — oh! it was beautiful, sir. But the little bird 
wouldn't give it up, and he sang again, but not until 
she had done. 



OF TRENTON FALLS 85 

" 'Then Jenny Lind sang as well as ever she could. 
Her voice seemed to fill the woods all up with music, 
and when it was over, the little bird was still awhile, 
but tried it again in a few moments. He couldn't do 
it, sir. He sang very bad, and then the foreign gen- 
tlemen with Jenny Lind laughed, and they all came 
back to the carriage.'" 

Uticans who heard the Swedish nightingale have 
Trenton Falls to thank for the treat. As originally 
planned, her Niagara tour included Albany, Syracuse, 
Rochester and Buffalo. Utica was not mentioned. 
The Utica Daily Gazette for July 1, 1851 states: 
"Miss Jenny Lind will stop in Utica mainly to visit 
Trenton Falls, and has consented to sing." An enter- 
prising citizen had shrewdly sent her a copy of N. P. 
WiUis' book just pubUshed, and the concert took place 
Monday evening, July 14, 1851. 

Frances Anne Kemble 

Among the choice pictures which adorned the 
walls of the family apartments at Moore's Hotel, was 
an engraving of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria with 
their eldest child, the Princess Royal (Empress Fred- 
eric), styled "The Royal Family at Home." The 
original, Landseer's painting, hangs in the Queen's 
sitting room at Windsor. The copy at Trenton was 
a gift to Mr. Moore from a distinguished visitor who 
inscribed beneath the picture, "From your humble 
servant, Frances Anne Kemble." 



86 THE GOLDEN ERA 

In response to my letter of inquiry, Owen Wister, 
the author, writes: "I well remember visiting Tren- 
ton Falls when a child with my parents, and of hearing 
my grandmother, Mrs. Kemble, speak of her great 
admiration for the beauties of the place." There are 
those to-day who vividly recall Dr. Owen and Mrs. 
Sarah Butler Wister of Philadelphia as among Tren- 
ton's most charming guests! Mr. Wister secured for 
me the following interesting reminiscence from a per- 
sonal friend of Mrs. Kemble, Mrs. W. R. Emerson of 
Milton, Mass., who accompanied her upon one of 
her visits to Trenton Fedls: 

*'I think it was in 1868 or 9 that I made a trip to 
Trenton Falls with my cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
Sedgwick of Syracuse and their children, and Mrs. 
Kemble. Mr. Moore received us at the door of the 
hotel and we all went at once into the garden before en- 
tering the house. Mrs. Kemble was delighted with a 
bunch of roses which Mr. Moore gathered for her as 
we went along. Mr. Moore descended to the falls 
with us. The weather was perfect and the hare-bells 
fringed the stream. Mrs. Kemble had an intense love 
for all streams, and her mind was divided between her 
joy in the beauty of the place and her terror lest she 
should lose her footing and plunge into the water. We 
spent a week at Trenton, and both Mr. and Mrs. Moore 
did everything to make our stay dehghtful." 

Aside from the two poems written at Trenton Falls 
contained in the volume of her verse, Mrs. Kemble 
alludes to the place in the "Records" of her hfe. In 



OF TRENTON FALLS 87 

1833, during one of her early American Shakesperian 
tours, she writes from Montreal to a friend in England : 
"We have gone up the Hudson, seen Trenton the most 
beautiful and Niageira the most awful of waterfalls." 
Speaking of her intense love and fascination for "bright 
water," Mrs. Kemble says: *'I think a very attached 
maid of mine once saved my hfe by the tearful expos- 
tulation with which she opposed the bewitching invi- 
tations of the topaz colored, flashing rapids of Trenton 
Falls, that looked to me in some paits so shallow, as 
well as so bright, that I was just on the point of step- 
ping into them, cheirmed by the exquisite confusion of 
musical voices with which they were persuading me, 
when suddenly a large tree-trunk shot down their 
flashing surface and was tossed over the fall below, 
leaving me to the natural conclusion, ' Just such a log 
should I have been, if I had gone in there.' Indeed, 
my worthy Marie, overcome by my importunity, hav- 
ing selected what seemed to her a safe, and to me a 
very tame, bathing place in another part of the stream, 
I had every reason from my experience at the difli- 
culty of withstanding its powerful current, to congrat- 
ulate myself upon not having tried the experiment 
nearer to one of the 'springs' of the lovely torrent, 
whose Indian name is the 'Leaping Water.' " 



88 THE GOLDEN ERA 



Madame Emma Willard 

Madame Emma Willard, founder of the famous 
school at Troy, was a great lover of nature, and in the 
summer of 1839 wrote her sister: "I have been to 
Trenton Falls which, I think, could never have ap- 
peared more beautiful, as there was a great deal of water, 
and the trees were in full foliage, and yet in vernal 
freshness. I was more venturesome in exploring the 
shelving rocks than I intended to be. I seem, amid such 
inspiring scenes, to lose the feeling of personal danger. 
Mr. H£u"t was with me. We descended three hundred 
feet, and then on a shelf of rock, which art had lent her 
aid to make continuous, we wended our way through 
the rocks above and below us, sometimes sUghtly in- 
clined, sometimes perpendicular. The torrent below 
was foaming and maddening along, and the opposite 
bank near us rising so as to make its outline, as we 
looked up, above the mild heaven. While I stood 
here my thoughts were those of solemn and heavenly 
musing. Mr. Hart and I made some observations on 
the sound of the cataract. We stood in one place 
where we could make with our voices a musical sound 
in perfect unison with the falling waters at other places. 
It was a deeper, lower sound than any human voice 
could make, but the different sounds appeared to be 
either octaves, thirds, or fifths — in that all were har- 
monious. Now, if this is so, and I believe it is, it is a 



OF TRENTON FALLS 89 

very curious fact, and shows how the sound of faUing 
waters is so pleasant to a musical ear." 

John Quincy Adams 

In the summer of 1843 the venerable ex-President, 
John Quincy Adams, honored the city of Utica by his 
presence. Mrs. Samuel L. Gouverneur, wife of the 
grandson of James Monroe, describes this visit in her 
entertaining book "As I Remember; Recollections 
of American Society during the Nineteenth Century": 
"I spent several weeks as the guest of the financier 
and author, Alexander R. Johnson, in Utica, New 
York. Mrs. Johnson's maiden name was Abigail 
Louisa Smith Adams, and she was the daughter of 
Charles Adams, son of President John Adams. Dur- 
ing my visit there her uncle, John Quincy Adams, 
came to Utica to visit his relatives, and I had the pleas- 
ure of being a guest of the family at the same time. 
He was accompanied upon this trip by his daughter- 
in-law, Mrs. Charles Francis Adams, a young grandson 
whose name I do not recall, and the father of Mrs. 
Adams, Peter C. Rrooks of Roston, another of whose 
daughters was the wife of Edweird Everett. Upon 
their arrival in Utica, the greatest enthusiasm pre- 
vailed, and the elderly ex-President was welcomed by 
an old-fashioned torchhght procession. In response 
to urgent requests, Mr. Adams made an impromptu 
speech from the steps of the Johnson house, and proved 
himself to be indeed 'the old man eloquent.' After 



90 THE GOLDEN ERA 

the Adams party had rested for a few days, a pleasure 
trip to Trenton Falls in Oneida County was proposed. 
A few prominent citizens of Utica were invited by the 
Johnsons to accompany the party, and among them 
several well-known lawyers whose careers won for 
them a national as well as local reputation. Among 
these I may especially mention the handsome Horatio 
Seymour, then in his prime, whose courteous manners 
and manly bearing made him exceptionally attractive. 
Mr. Adams bore the fatigue of the trip remarkably 
well, and his strength seemed undiminished as the day 
waned." 

John Quincy Adams arrived in Utica Saturday even- 
ing, July 29th, as he was about completing a tour which 
included Quebec, Montreal and Niagara. The Utica 
Daily Gazette states that on Sunday he attended Trin- 
ity Church in the morning, the Reformed Dutch in the 
afternoon, and the First Presbyterian in the evening. 
On Monday he was waited upon by a committee of 
citizens, and a pubHc reception was arranged for Tues- 
day, August 1st, at ten in the morning, at which time 
he met a large concourse of people in the drawing room 
of the Bleecker House (which adjoined Bagg's Hotel 
on the north), and in the evening the ladies paid their 
respects to the ex-President at the home of Mr. John- 
son. 



OF TRENTON FALLS 91 



Miss Amelia M. Murray 

Governor and Mrs. Horatio Seymour brought an 
enthusiastic geologist, botanist and artist to Trenton 
Falls in July, 1855, the Honorable Amelia M. Murray, 
one of Queen Victoria's maids of honor. During her 
travels in this country her superior scientific knowl- 
edge brought her in close contact with Prof. Asa Gray 
and Prof. Louis Aggasiz. Naturally such a devoted 
student of nature would be charmed with Trenton 
and Miss Murray expresses her appreciation in her 
published "Letters from the United States, Cuba and 
Canada": 

"Trenton Falls, July 8: This is the most charming 
rural hotel I have seen in America; it is situated in 
almost a dense hemlock spruce forest, and has a gar- 
den quite English in style and neatness; and the rooms, 
brightly clean and comfortable, are decorated with 
prints and drawings chosen with eu'tistic taste. Every- 
thing about it is in accordance with the beauty and 
magnificence of its natural scenery; no forced orna- 
ments or glaring paint jars upon the feelings or hurts 
the eye. Here is a kind of mesmeric influence which 
impresses the heart unconsciously: a sincere worship- 
per of Nature is at once assured that one of her most 
lovely shrines cannot be desecrated. Mr. Moore is 
worthy of Trenton both by taste and education. The 
name Trenton was formerly Olden Barneveld; one re- 



92 THE GOLDEN ERA 

grets it although originating from the Hollanders, for 
the Indian appropriate appellation was 'Kauyahoora' 
(leaping waters) and the river Kanata (Amber river) 
was equally descriptive; for at some places the falls 
resemble liquid amber, and occasionally the tumbling 
stream seems to have an edging of gold. The Gov- 
ernor and Mrs. Seymour first took me to see it from 
the forest walk, where the chasm below resembled 
that of the Tilt at Blair Athol, only filled by a wider, 
larger river, and by a succession of higher falls. 

"After dinner Mr. Moore took us for a long walk, 
over wall and fence, to see a railroad in process of for- 
mation. Upon our way back he was so obhging as to 
accede to my wish and take me into a forest swamp to 
see the moccasin flower growing ; as we had to go down 
a steep woody hill, guided by a man living near, the 
rest of the party, excepting one young man, deserted. 
I was fully repaid for a rather difficult scramble by 
finding numbers of the beautiful pink Cypripedium 
spectabile (I should not call it purple) and Lillum 
Canadense by its side. The latter I have occasionally 
seen by the edge of railroads, but I never before gath- 
ered it. The pretty little white anemone-like-looking 
Dalibarda repens was also in flower all over the ad- 
joining banks. 

"The next morning Mr. Moore took charge of us 
during a walk to aU the falls along the edge of the tor- 
rent; without his experienced guidance I should have 
been afraid to have undertaken this, but as the water 
was high enough for beauty and not too high for safety, 



OF TRENTON FALLS 93 

it was very enjoyable. I sketched the three principal 
cataracts. It will not do to compare Trenton with 
Niagara, it is entirely different, but certainly after 
Niagara I prefer Trenton to any other water scenery 
in America." 

Henry W. Longfellow 

In the month of June, 1862, the poet, Longfellow, 
joined a party of friends for a visit to Niagara Falls, 
which he had never visited, taking his sons with him. 
After resuming his Journal, following the long break 
caused by the death of Mrs. Longfellow, among the 
first records are these: "June 4th, 1862. A rainy 
day to begin the Niagara journey. On, on, on, all 
day long, reach Albany at five, to Utica on the 5th by 
rail. There we took a carriage for Trenton Falls. 
Dine and then go down the steep steps to the lovely 
river, rushing, roaring, along its banks of stone, through 
a deep, wooded ravine. We follow it up for miles; all 
loveliness, and a httle spice of danger from a shp on 
the narrow ledges. A nice hotel, and a good host, 
fond of music and art, and possessing two parlor or- 
gans and a piano, and rooms full of pictures. Go 
down to the river at night. Black and fearful is it in 
the deep ravine, with flashes of white foam, and the 
waterfaUs caUing and beckoning. June 6th. Down 
at the river before breakfast. In the afternoon an- 
other ramble up the beautiful river. It is very lovely.'' 
Mr. Longfellow must have heard the praises of 



94 THE GOLDEN ERA 

Trenton sung by his brilliant brother-in-law, "Tom" 
Appleton, the famous Boston wit who visited the falls 
on his journey to Niagara in 1847. 

Newman Hall 

When on his way from Saratoga to Niagara in the 
fall of 1867, the Reverend Newman Hall left the train 
at Utica to visit Trenton Falls and writes in his 
"Notes of Travel in America": "We engaged a cap- 
ital 'waggon' with a pair of spanking trotters, for ten 
dollars for the fourteen mile drive and had our first 
experience of plank roads. Sometimes we rolled along 
with delicious smoothness. Sometimes, where the 
planks had become uneven, we enjoyed some delight- 
ful tossings and bumpings. Our driver told us that 
from December to April the whole country is covered 
with snow, and that the 'waggons' are laid up, and 
sleighs alone employed. 

"The falls extend about two miles through a forest, 
the trees overhanging the narrow gorge through which 
the swift stream has cut its way. The water clear and 
transparent, was of that rich brown tint which artists 
love so well. I was reminded of the falls of the Clyde, 
though Trenton is on a smaller scale. I shall never for- 
get the beauty of the scene at sunset; the narrow gorge, 
the various colored rocks, the waters rushing, pausing, 
plunging, reposing, dreaming, awaking, sighing, mur- 
muring, roaring — now sparkHng in the sun, now all 
white with foam, now black beneath the overhanging 






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OF TRENTON FALLS 95 

rocks — and always above the gorgeous canopy of for- 
est foliage." 

William H. Seward and Party at Trenton Falls 

On the 18th of August, 1863, Trenton Falls was vis- 
ited by a notable party of gentlemen, led by Secretary 
of State William H. Seward, and including the follow- 
ing foreign ministers: Lord Lyons of England, M. 
Mercier of France, M. Tassara of Spain, Baron Gerolt 
of Prussia, M. Molina of Nicaragua, Baron Stroeckel 
of Russia, Count Piper of Sweden, M. Bertenatti of 
Italy, M. Schleiden, Hanseatic, with several secreta- 
ries and attaches of the different legations. A greatly 
prized picture is that of the company taken on 
the spacious platform of rock just below the High 
Falls. 

Curious for information regarding the visit of this 
extraordinary party to Trenton Falls, I wrote to Sec- 
retary Seward's son, General William H. Seward of 
Auburn, N. Y., regarding it, and learned from him 
that the party, by Mr. Seward's invitation, made the 
trip from Washington to Niagara in a special car. The 
excursion was planned not only for pleasure, but to 
impress upon the foreigners the extent and resources 
of the country, in its great struggle with the Rebellion — 
a matter in which the Powers were deeply interested 
at the time. Coming from New York up the Hudson 
River and through the Mohawk Valley, points of in- 
terest were visited on the journey through the state, 



96 THE GOLDEN ERA 

and Mr. Seward also entertained his distinguished 
guests at his family home at Auburn. 

General Ulysses S. Grant 

August 1, 1872, the highway to Trenton wore a truly 
festal appearance with the Stars and Stripes floating 
all along the route, in honor of the President of the 
United States, General Grant, who, with Mrs. Grant 
and their sons Lieutenant Frederick and Jesse Grant, 
and General Horace Porter, guests of Senator and Mrs. 
Conkling, paid a visit to Trenton Falls upon that mem- 
orable day. A newspaper of the period states that, 
after dining at the hotel, the President and the gen- 
tlemen of the peu'ty walked through the glen while the 
ladies followed the paths above, and at about six p.m. 
all returned to the city. 

When the Society of the Army of the Cumberland 
met in Utica in September, 1875, with such distin- 
guished persons in attendance as President Grant, 
General Sherman, General "Joe" Hooker and Gen- 
eral Slocum, one of the marked features of entertain- 
ment was an excursion to Oneida County's famous 
scenic resort, Trenton Falls. 

Among the long hst of prominent people not yet 
mentioned who visited Trenton Falls, were Joseph 
Bonaparte, Dewitt Clinton, Chancellor Kent, Judge 
Story, Josiah Quincy, Amos Lawrence, Nicholas Bid- 
die, George Ticknor, Dr. Channing, Richard Cobden, 
Millard Fillmore, Edward Everett, Charles Sumner, 



OF TRENTON FALLS 97 

William H. Prescott, Francis Parkman, Commodore 
Isaac Hull, General Winfield Scott, Louis Aggasiz, 
Asa Gray, Edmund Kean, Fanny Ellsler, Charlotte 
Cushman, Madame Alboni, Gottschalk, Edwin Booth, 
Edwin Forrest, Grace Greenwood, Oliver Wendell 
Holmes, Bayard Taylor, Ehhu Burritt, Peter Cooper, 
Edward Everett Hale, Horace Greeley, Cyrus W. 
Field, and Sir Leshe Stephen. 

Such noted artists as George Inness, Durand, Bou- 
telle, and Thomas Hicks found keen delight in paint- 
ing this lovely scenery. Mr. Hicks so loved the place 
that, after spending many seasons at Moore's Hotel, 
he built an attractive summer home, "Thorn wood" — 
a veritable artist's retreat — on the banks of the West 
Canada Creek, and here the great portrait painter 
passed away October 8, 1890. Year after year, with 
unabated interest and loyalty, his widow returns to 
this storied nook in Oneida County, thereby perpetu- 
ating the very finest traditions of Trenton's palmy 
days. 

Jacques Gerard Milbert 

An interesting picture at "Thornwood" is a copy 
of J. Milbert's painting of "The Great Falls of Canada 
Creek" which suggests the name of a visitor to Trenton 
one hundred years ago. A member of the Academy 
of Fine Arts and of "the leairned societies of Philadel- 
phia and New York," the artist and naturahst, Mil- 
bert, arrived in New York in the yeeir 1815, to conduct 



98 THE GOLDEN ERA 

scientific researches in North America in behalf of the 
French government. In the pubhshed account of his 
journeys I discovered a most unusual description of 
Trenton Falls and also of the Mohawk Valley. Jacques 
Gerard Milbert was a most observing traveler. He 
largely abandoned "the expeditious public coach" to 
walk through some of the most picturesque sections 
of our country. He minutely describes the landscape 
between Albany and Utica which impresses him in 
many places as rivalling famous European scenes in 
beauty. "The pretty town of Utica," he says, "is a 
most striking example of prodigious growth in popula- 
tion and riches. In 1794 it consisted of only one tav- 
ern constructed of trunks of trees, intermingled with 
a few huts, and to-day one can count more than five 
hundred houses elegantly constructed and decorated. 
5N * * * J jgf^ Utica as I intended," continues 
Milbert, "to visit the western branch of Canada Creek 
and its remarkable falls, until just now unknown to 
foreign travellers who come to admire the falls of Ni- 
agara. I went out early in the morning and took the 
beautiful toll road, called the turnpike, which leads to 
Ogdensburg situated on the St. Lawrence River. I 
hastened to arrive at the summit of the hill in order 
to enjoy in all its magnificence the sunrise which, con- 
templated from this height, presented very remark- 
able effects. In the plain I discovered the Mohawk 
like a silver furrow sparkling in the sun, reflecting the 
image of the trees and rustic habitations which adorn 
its banks. * * * * Arriving at the village of 



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iOO THE GOLDEN ERA 

to me. In short, I was ignorant that the peasants of 
the surrounding country, for whom the curiosity of 
travellers is a source of much profit, had placed along 
the way from stage to stage, some ladders on the falls. 
Directed by the increasing murmur of the waters I 
continued my path, now supporting myself by a jut- 
ting rock, and now suspending myself by bending 
branches. I descended intrepidly when suddenly a 
shrub, by which I was supporting myself, was torn up 
by the roots by my weight and rolled into the preci- 
pice, dragging me with it. My destruction would 
have been certain had not a second tree, solidly lodged, 
fortunately presented itself and held me suspended 
over the abyss. After being firmly lodged for some 
seconds in my tree protector, and restored from my 
fright, I let myself slide on to a large trunk or root, and 
stopped just as my guide, drawn to me by my cries, 
came to my rescue and assisted me to a place wholly 
out of danger. My portfolio, which was lost at the 
moment of my fall, was found at the foot of the de- 
clivity. 

"My guide directed me towards the ladders and we 
arrived soon at a beautiful plateau formed of lime- 
stone whose mass of great hardness included numer- 
ous imprints of fossils, and where the stone was laid 
up in such a way as to resemble a vast staircase con- 
structed by Nature at the foot of one of its most beau- 
tiful monuments. From this elevated position I 
drew the lower falls whose waters, turbulent and fur- 
ious from the moment of their leaping over the rocks, 



OF TRENTON FALLS iOi 

afterwards flow peacefully through a fertile country 
and finally mingle with the waters of the Mohawk. 
On the right bank of the picture I drew is the tree by 
which I tried to support myself, and which almost 
dragged me in its fall. 

"I climbed up by means of the ladders to visit the 
series of six cascades which form this stream. All de- 
serve the fixed attention of travellers and lovers of 
beautiful scenes, now by the pronounced form of the 
rocks, and again by the abundant variety of vegeta- 
tion which adorns them, and finally by the striking 
effects, always new, of the mass of water breaking 
forth into a thousand ways as it dashes over the open- 
ings in the rocks. The left bank of Canada Creek 
offers masses of rocks in strange form, which some- 
times resemble long torsal columns and sometimes 
turrets and bastions of the ruins of gothic edifices. 
* * * * Birds are the only inhabitants of 
these vast solitudes. I struck down a white heron 
and I regret that I was unable to capture two large 
white-headed eagles who, disturbed by the presence 
of a human creature in the region where they had made 
their home, were circling about over my head and ut- 
tering sharp and piercing cries. * * * ]y|y guide 
had provided food for the day and I was, therefore, 
able to devote it entirely to my collections of 
natural objects and to garnishing my portfolio of de- 
signs. My researches of every kind were quite fruit- 
ful, and I discovered in the rocks some of those curious 
fossils named trilobites. After a day thus laboriously 



102 THE GOLDEN ERA 

employed I regained with pleasure the village of Tren- 
ton and returned to Utica the next day, which was to 
be my point of departure for a new journey." 



A Final Tribute 

I have purposely reserved for the final tribute to the 
incomparable Mohawk Valley, and the shrine of sur- 
passing natural beauty which has inspired this vol- 
ume, a particularly pleasing appreciation written by 
the clever Mrs. TroUope upon her return from Niagara. 
I can easily forgive all her criticism of our new America 
because she wrote the following, one June day in 1831: 
"We reached Utica very late and very weary, but the 
delights of a good hotel and perfect civility sent us in 
good humor to bed, and we arose sufficiently refreshed 
to enjoy a day's journey through some of the loveliest 
scenery in the world. 

"Who is it that says America is not picturesque.^ I 
forget; but surely he never travelled from Utica to 
Albany. I really cannot conceive that any country 
can furnish a drive of ninety miles more varied in its 
beauty. The road follows the Mohawk River which 
flows through scenes waving with plenty, to rocks, 
hills and woods. Around the Little Falls are scenes 
of striking beauty. I never saw so sweetly wild a 
spot! I confess my incapacity for description for 
passing so dully through this matchless valley of 



OF TRENTON FALLS i03 

the Mohawk! I would that some British artist 
would take my word for it and pass over for a sum- 
mer pilgrimage through the state of New York. 
He would do wisely, for I question if the world could 
furnish within the same space, so many subjects for 
his pencil; mountains, forests, rocks, lakes, rivers, cat- 
aracts, all in perfection. But he must be bold as a 
lion in coloring, or he will make nothing of it. He 
must have courage to dip his pencil in shadows as black 
as night, and light that might blind an eagle. 

"As I presume my young artist to be an enthusiast, 
he must first go to Niagara, or even in the Mohawk 
Valley his pinioned wing may droop. If his fever run 
very high he may slake his thirst at Trenton, and while 
there he will not dream of anything beyond it." 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 221 



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